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Yahoo
16 hours ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
WNBA's Chicago Sky tries to protect their players on social media. Here's what that means
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Chicago Sky co-owner Nadia Rawlinson knew security concerns were serious. The Sky have physical security nearly 24 hours a day — around hotels, outside gyms, by buses and planes — but one of the final frontiers of player safety was the internet. Earlier this month, the Sky teamed up with Moonshot to protect their players from threats and hate on social media, the first relationship of its kind in the WNBA. 'People think as athletes, we should take what comes our way,' Sky guard Ariel Atkins said. 'We are human and some comments that people make are inhumane. It's phenomenal of our organization to take care of us.' Moonshot's technology was created for use in counterterrorism; it's used by the U.S. government. 'It's a great thing to implement right now,' said Sky all-star Angel Reese, who has one of the most popular social media platforms among WNBA players. 'It's really important to be able to have that (protection), especially as a woman." What does this technology do for the Sky players? Moonshot monitors more than 25 social media and internet platforms, including those on which players do not have personal accounts. The technology shrinks the millions of posts it looks at every day into thousands of posts that contain direct threats to the athletes. From there, Moonshot's team of human threat assessors, from clinical psychologists to social workers, takes over. They look through the flagged posts and report them, if necessary — whether that's to the social media platforms themselves for removal or, in more serious and imminent cases, directly to law enforcement. They target actionable threats to the athletes, like the release of their personal information or possible stalkers. It's that human involvement that Moonshot co-founder and CEO Vidhya Ramalingam said is necessary to its success. 'This is not a problem that can just be solved by technology alone,' she said. 'It's fundamentally a human problem, and this is a human partnership.' How the partnership came to be Rawlinson, who said her own experiences as a woman of colour have informed her understanding of the issue, knew it was something she wanted to focus on. 'With the rise in women's sports, the rise in attention, the greater fandom, the greater investment, all of it is historic,' Rawlinson said. 'But there's a dark side to that. At some point, you just want to play the game, so the goal is to remove some of the noise that happens off the court.' After reading about Moonshot in a tech publication a few weeks ago, Rawlinson reached out to Ramalingam about a partnership. It was a quick connection. 'It was really clear there was a values alignment,' Ramalingam said. 'Some of that stems from some of our shared experiences as women of colour in spaces where so often our voices are under-represented, and the desire to actually do something about it and not just sit there. 'For far too long, I saw women like me, people of colour, be overrepresented as targets and under-represented in the solution,' she said. ___ This story has been corrected to show that the name of the company the Chicago Sky have partnered with is Moonshot, not Moonshot Technologies. ___ AP WNBA: Alyce Brown, The Associated Press Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
19 hours ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
The Chicago Sky are trying to protect their players on social media. Here's what that means
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Chicago Sky co-owner Nadia Rawlinson knew security concerns were serious. The Sky have physical security nearly 24 hours a day — around hotels, outside gyms, by buses and planes — but one of the final frontiers of player safety was the internet. Earlier this month, the Sky teamed up with Moonshot Technologies to protect their players from threats and hate on social media, the first relationship of its kind in the WNBA. 'People think as athletes, we should take what comes our way,' Sky guard Ariel Atkins said. 'We are human and some comments that people make are inhumane. It's phenomenal of our organization to take care of us.' Moonshot's technology was created for use in counterterrorism; it's used by the U.S. government. 'It's a great thing to implement right now,' said Sky All-Star Angel Reese, who has one of the most popular social media platforms among WNBA players. 'It's really important to be able to have that (protection), especially as a woman." What does this technology do for the Sky players? Moonshot monitors more than 25 social media and internet platforms, including those on which players do not have personal accounts. The technology shrinks the millions of posts it looks at every day into thousands of posts that contain direct threats to the athletes. From there, Moonshot's team of human threat assessors, from clinical psychologists to social workers, takes over. They look through the flagged posts and report them, if necessary — whether that's to the social media platforms themselves for removal or, in more serious and imminent cases, directly to law enforcement. They target actionable threats to the athletes, like the release of their personal information or possible stalkers. It's that human involvement that Moonshot co-founder and CEO Vidhya Ramalingam said is necessary to its success. 'This is not a problem that can just be solved by technology alone,' she said. 'It's fundamentally a human problem, and this is a human partnership.' How the partnership came to be Rawlinson, who said her own experiences as a woman of color have informed her understanding of the issue, knew it was something she wanted to focus on. 'With the rise in women's sports, the rise in attention, the greater fandom, the greater investment, all of it is historic,' Rawlinson said. 'But there's a dark side to that. At some point, you just want to play the game, so the goal is to remove some of the noise that happens off the court.' After reading about Moonshot in a tech publication a few weeks ago, Rawlinson reached out to Ramalingam about a partnership. It was a quick connection. 'It was really clear there was a values alignment,' Ramalingam said. 'Some of that stems from some of our shared experiences as women of color in spaces where so often our voices are underrepresented, and the desire to actually do something about it and not just sit there. 'For far too long, I saw women like me, people of color, be overrepresented as targets and underrepresented in the solution,' she said. ___ AP WNBA: Alyce Brown, The Associated Press Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Angel Reese ruled out of Wednesday's Sky-Dream game with leg injury, days before WNBA All-Star Game
CHICAGO, IL - JULY 14: Angel Reese #5 of the Chicago Sky looks on during the second half against the Minnesota Lynx on July 14, 2025 at Wintrust Arena in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Melissa Tamez/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) The Chicago Sky have ruled out Angel Reese and Ariel Atkins for Wednesday's game against the Atlanta Dream with leg injuries. The nature of the injuries wasn't initially clear. This story will be updated.


Daily Mail
5 days ago
- Sport
- Daily Mail
Angel Reese ripped for 'lazy' error in latest loss days after beating Caitlin Clark for video game honor
Angel Reese's inclusion on the cover of a popular video game already had WNBA fans in a huff when the second-year Chicago Sky power committed an unforgiveable turnover in Monday's 91-78 loss to the Minnesota Lynx. Although she did record her ninth consecutive double-double with 22 points and 10 boards, Reese surrendered the ball five times, including one careless inbounds pass that quickly went viral. 'That was a lazy pass,' one fan remarked on X after Reese's inexcusable second-quarter turnover. In what tennis players would describe as an 'unforced error,' Reese delivered her inbounds pass without even looking at her intended target, Ariel Atkins, who watched as the balled trickled slowly into the hands of Minnesota's Kamilla Cardoso near midcourt. Cardoso then dished to teammate Bridget Carleton, who buried a wide-open 3-pointer to cut Chicago's lead to 46-39. The Lynx trimmed that advantage to four by halftime before pulling away in the second half. To fans, it wasn't just Reese's careless pass that was so bothersome. Rather, the conversation on social media focused on the two-time All-Star's status as one of the faces of the league and a cover model for the WNBA version of the NBA 2K26 video game. 'Is that move going to be in the video game ??' one sarcastic fan asked on X. Another describe Reese's inbounds as a 'no-think' pass, while many gamblers asked how the turnover might impact their bets for the evening. 'I need 4+ assists from her tonight…does that count as one???' one gambler joked. A few fans argued that Atkins was slow getting to the ball, but the overwhelming majority put the blame squarely at the former LSU star's feet. Reese is averaging a league-best 12.6 rebounds a game this season – 3.4 more a game than her next closest competitor – but critics continue to compare her unfavorably to her Indiana Fever rival Caitlin Clark. Criticism often focuses on Reese's 44.6-percent accuracy from the field, which is low for a post player such as herself. What's more, the Sky have been outscored by 169 points when Reese is on the floor - a worse plus-minus rating than all but four WNBA players. Still, Reese managed to snag the cover of NBA 2K26 over the objections of Clark fans. 'Should have been Caitlin Clark,' one wrote on X. 'Over CC? Something smells fishy,' another wrote. Some fans have photoshopped the cover, replacing the basketball in Reese's hand with a giant brick in a dig at her shooting struggles.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Tyler Marsh Gives Chicago Sky Injury Updates
Tyler Marsh Gives Chicago Sky Injury Updates originally appeared on Athlon Sports. It was a tough night for the Chicago Sky, who came up short in their bid for a third straight win. After beating Minnesota on Saturday at Wintrust Arena, head coach Tyler Marsh and his squad couldn't keep the momentum going Monday night against the same opponent. Chicago dropped to 7-14 with the loss. Advertisement The 91-78 loss didn't just sting in the standings, it hit the roster hard as well. Two key players left the game due to injuries and didn't return. Ariel Atkins exited after 15 minutes of action with a leg injury. Later, Michaela Onyenwere went down hard in transition and stayed on the floor for a moment before being helped off. She had played 21 minutes at the time. Coach Marsh provided brief updates after the game. "I think Michaela is fine. No concussion. Ariel is still being evaluated," Marsh said. The good news for the Sky is that Onyenwere appears to have avoided a concussion. The bad news is the uncertainty surrounding Atkins, who has been one of the team's leading scorers. Advertisement Chicago is already without veteran Courtney Vandersloot, who underwent ACL surgery in June. The WNBA veteran from Gonzaga was averaging 10.6 points per game before the injury. Atkins, a former Texas Longhorn, came into Monday's game averaging 14.5 points per contest. She had scored 27 in Saturday's win over the Lynx. Chicago Sky head coach Tyler Marsh gives updates on players after a tough Gonzales-Imagn Images Onyenwere, the sixth overall pick in the 2021 WNBA Draft out of UCLA, doesn't fill the box score but plays an important role. She's averaging 14 minutes per game this season. In 2024, her first season with Chicago, she started 18 of 34 games and logged 18.7 minutes per game. The Sky will wrap up the first half of their season on Wednesday when they host the Atlanta Dream. Advertisement Related: Aces Coach Becky Hammon Offers Blunt Assessment After Blowout Loss to Fever Related: Aliyah Boston Comments on Caitlin Clark's Clear Change in Physical Appearence This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jul 15, 2025, where it first appeared.