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Gabrielle Union can’t wrap her head around the WNBA’s decision to fine the New York Liberty $500,000 for chartering flights in the second half of last season.
“This sounds ass backwards and an open desire by some owners to MAKE SURE that women athletes don’t have the same advantages as male pro athletes. A damn shame. 3 years of private flts for the entire league and still there’s an issue?!?! Make it make sense,” the actress, who is a known advocate of the WNBA and fair treatment of women in sports, tweeted.
Teams are unable to charter flights, per the WNBA’s collective bargaining agreement, which calls it a competitive advantage.
Some owners, such as Joe and Clara Wu Tsai — who purchased the Liberty and Brooklyn Nets in 2019, and paid for the chartered flights — are able to foot the bill for pricey accommodations outside the allocated compensation for teams, as opposed to other franchises. Joe Tsai is co-founder of the Chinese tech company Alibaba Group.
The Tsais charted a flight for a team trip to Napa over Labor Day weekend last year, which also violated the WNBA’s collective bargaining agreement.
On Tuesday, Sports Illustrated reported that the Liberty were initially fined $1 million after “someone” alerted the league of New York’s travel violations, but an appeal reduced the amount to $500,000.
Jamin Dershowitz, the league’s general counsel, considered additional punishments including, “losing ‘every draft pick you have ever seen,’” to suspending ownership, and “termination of the franchise,” according to a Sept. 21, 2021, letter between the league and the Liberty.
Per SI, the Liberty’s alternate governor said in the letter, “We cannot begin to talk about gender equity until we solve some pressing issues that have put extra burdens on the health and well-being of WNBA players.”
The situation caused an uproar on social media, with more celebrities and athletes sharing their support for the Liberty.
Sabrina Ionescu, the Liberty’s top pick in the 2020 WNBA Draft, tweeted, “What a joke.”
Two-time WNBA champion, Candace Parker wrote in a comment on Instagram, “Amazing timing in announcing this on the first day of Women’s History Month.”
When the news broke on Monday, the WNBA players’ association tweeted, “Fining the teams for standing up for equity, standing up for the players, harkens back to a league that fined the players for standing up for social justice.”
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