For the third time in a single week, the WNBA has confronted the bizarre and dangerous spectacle of sex toys hurled onto courts during live games.
The pattern began on July 29 in Atlanta during a game between the Golden State Valkyries and the Atlanta Dream, and continued in Chicago and Los Angeles in quick succession.
Each time, play was halted, leaving players, officials, and fans stunned.
In the first incident, a spectator launched a lime-green sex toy onto the court with under a minute left in the fourth quarter. It bounced near the freethrow line, prompted a timeout, and resulted in the fan’s arrest shortly thereafter.
A few days later, during a showdown at Wintrust Arena between Golden State and the Chicago Sky, another similar object was tossed under a basket in the third quarter. An official quickly kicked it aside midgame. No arrests have been confirmed in connection with that incident.
Then, on August 5 in Los Angeles, a third sextoy was thrown during a freethrow attempt in the game between the Indiana Fever and Los Angeles Sparks.
It narrowly missed Indiana guard Sophie Cunningham, who had previously called on fans to stop such behavior.
WNBA cracks down midway through escalating incidents
Responding decisively, the WNBA issued a robust statement reaffirming its commitment to safety and decorum.
“The safety and wellbeing of everyone in our arenas is a top priority for our league,” the statement read.
“Objects of any kind thrown onto the court or in the seating area can pose a safety risk for players, game officials, and fans. … Any fan who intentionally throws an object onto the court will be immediately ejected and face a minimum oneyear ban in addition to being subject to arrest and prosecution by local authorities.”
The WNBA also imposed a strict nobag policy, significantly limiting what fans can bring into arenas.
This move is designed to make it harder for prohibited items-including sex toys-to be smuggled in and thrown during games. Security checks have been tightened and bag searches intensified across venues.
Players and coaches respond with frustration
Player and league voices have been overwhelmingly critical, calling the acts immature and dangerous.
After the Chicago incident, Sky center Elizabeth Williams said, “It’s super disrespectful. I don’t really get the point of it. It’s really immature. Whoever is doing it needs to grow up.”
Following the third incident, Sophie Cunningham posted again on X, acknowledging the irony of her earlier plea, where she had written “stop throwing dildos on the court… you’re going to hurt one of us”, and adding: “this did NOT age well.”
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