MORE: Athletes’ social issues demonstrations
Two Mercury players also chose to kneel after two more African-American men were killed in police shootings in the past week.
Fever coach Stephanie White praised her players for taking a stand during the anthem.
“I’m proud of y’all for doing that together, being in that together,” she said on ESPN’s broadcast. “It’s big, it’s bigger than basketball.”
MORE: It’s time Charlotte athletes speak up on police shootings
Earlier this season, the Fever were among three WNBA teams to wear warmup T-shirts in support of the Black Lives Matter movement — and out of honor for the Dallas police officers killed during protests in July. The league elected to fine the Fever, Mercury and New York Liberty $5,000 each for failure “to comply with the league’s uniform guidelines.”
The Minnesota Lynx initially brought the demonstration to the WNBA before a July 10 game, but stopped after the WNBA sent a memo warning of the uniform policy.
