The WNBA has a flying sex toy problem ... or does it?

Yahoo

8 hours ago

Three experts put the dildo debacle into perspective.
Let's review some recent WNBA headlines: Alyssa Thomas made history with three consecutive triple-doubles, the first three-peat in the league's history; Brittney Sykes was traded midseason from the Washington Mystics to the Seattle Storm; the Indiana Fever's Sydney Colson and Aari McDonald both suffered season-ending injuries. Did you read those stories? Probably not. But the sex toys being thrown onto WNBA courts — that's probably broken through.
The first of the phallic-shaped objects hit the floor of the Gateway Center Arena in Georgia during a July 29 matchup between the Atlanta Dream and Golden State Valkyries. A few days later, another one landed in Wintrust Arena, where the Chicago Sky faced Golden State. The incidents sparked a few laughs, a lot of confusion and ultimately a ton of media coverage, especially as they continued to be thrown onto the home courts of the Los Angeles Sparks, Phoenix Mercury and New York Liberty, where a 12-year-old girl was struck by it. The NYPD is looking for that suspect, while arrests have been made in connection with incidents in Georgia and Phoenix.
What to make of the incidents and how to respond to them has been a growing conversation. Sure, it could just be a viral prank, with the perpetrators wanting internet fame; there's also the possibility that this is sexism, or as Cosmopolitan put it, "misogyny plain and simple"; there's even the connection to cryptocurrency (maybe this is all a marketing ploy?!). Nevertheless, players and leaders in the league have reacted both seriously and with humor, while fans, commentators, TikTokers and basketball noobs debate whether the storyline should get as much attention as it has or if it even poses a threat to the rapidly rising WNBA. To help me understand the current events and conversations, and why they might or might not matter, I spoke with three experts who shared different points of view.
Jodi Norgaard, author and founder of Go! Go! Sports Girls
There's a pattern of sexist responses when women find success, Norgaard notes. 'We've seen women steadily rise in our culture. What we're seeing now is such a blowback to this rise because there's such a threat of power,' she tells Yahoo. 'When men cannot match our talent, they reach for props. When they can't silence us, they try to embarrass us.'
She recognizes it as a part of a larger negative narrative surrounding the WNBA, especially when it comes to media coverage and social media conversations. 'Women are just more scrutinized than men,' says Norgaard, highlighting the misogynistic responses to Indiana Fever Sophie Cunningham's initial post on X about the sex toy saga as an example. But she doesn't see it as something that will defeat players.
'When something gets a lot of attention, that means it's on the radar, that means there's something to be talking about, so there's good in that. We're seeing the record viewership, we're seeing the record merchandise sales, we're seeing the athletes stepping into the cultural spotlight like we've never seen before,' Norgaard continues. 'I don't think we're going away. I just think there's a lot of fighting that we're going to have to do as we continue to rise.'
Jordan Robinson, women's sports journalist and host of 'The Women's Hoop Show' podcast
Robinson has been covering women's basketball for seven years, so she knows that sexism has appeared throughout the coverage of the WNBA both historically and during the 2025 season in particular. The focus on dildos being thrown onto the court might be the most blatant example, but it's also seen in discussions about higher pay for female athletes and even the narrative about physicality and perceived feuds, like the storyline around Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese.
'It's like we're choosing topics that aren't about the play on the court, and that isn't fair. For the NBA, for the NFL, we go through hours of coverage on major networks to talk about the matchups and the X's and O's. It feels like the WNBA only makes headlines when it's not basketball-related, and that's really annoying, honestly. The sex toys thing falls in line with that,' Robinson tells Yahoo.
She too believes it's the 'cost of growth' for the women's league, especially when that brings in new audiences that don't know how to engage with it. 'People that don't typically cover the league on a weekly basis aren't really tapped in to know the top players or the standings or how it's a race for the playoffs. Instead, it's, 'What are the sex toys about? This is clickbaity, let's talk about this.' And it takes away from the seriousness of the league,' she says.
On the flip side, it's provided an opportunity for players to respond in their own ways and become a part of the cultural conversation. 'Sydney Colson made a whole separate Instagram called the Mean Green and dressed in green and made a complete joke out of it,' says Robinson. 'It's a platform thing. … Her dressing up as the dildo is a part of her personal brand and is going to bring more people to her page and more ears to her podcast.'
Howard Megdal, author of ' and founder of the IX Basketball
Megdal, a man, focuses solely on women's basketball coverage because he knows it's needed — and the persistence of the sex toy conversation is Exhibit A. 'People will drink the sand when there's no water to be had,' he tells Yahoo, 'so for those who have discovered women's basketball and have come to love it, they're going to look to consume it in any and every way they can.'
Certain storylines are a product of a newer part of the sports media industry that isn't qualified or doesn't care to cover the league's most important topics, like ongoing negotiations for higher pay (because why is Clark only making $78,000 this season?). Coverage of the WNBA's encounters with green and purple dildos might be a distraction from those pivotal issues, but he doesn't see it as a detriment.
'I remain unconvinced that it matters very much at all. If I'm the WNBA and I see television viewership going through the roof — not just when Caitlin Clark plays but also when she doesn't play — and I see numerous markets regularly selling out games and a moment in which expansion fees seem to be going up by the day, I don't know that I'd spend much time worrying about the nonsense when I got out of bed every day,' says Megdal.
That's not to say that the league or its players should have to deal with it. But, as he sees it, this dialogue isn't a threat to its success. 'The conversation as it exists … is not reflective and does not have any sort of negative impact on the league's ability to grow,' he says. 'I'd probably stop bothering to worry about it.'
The bigger picture
The dildo incidents reflect the reality of the WNBA in 2025, as a league in the midst of explosive growth, grappling with the double-edged sword of visibility. The reaction to it shows the gap between what players put into the game and what the public and parts of the media choose to focus on.
'There is this overarching theme, unfortunately, that hovers over the WNBA, which is sexism,' says Robinson. 'I'm going to find the silver lining because five or six years ago, these teams weren't even playing in these arenas, and they would have been empty. Now, there are so many people in the audience to the point where somebody slipped in and threw a dildo. The positive is that it was sold out.'
It's not something to be overlooked, but it's less of a threat than a test case for a women's league fighting for respect. And while the players shouldn't have to deal with it, they're proving that they know how to turn attention into fuel for the bigger game.
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