WNBA teams SKIP national anthem during playoffs despite league rules

The WNBA's rulebook requires that players and coaches stand and line up along the sidelines when the national anthem is played. However, at Saturday's game between the Atlanta Dream and Golden State Valkyries, both finalist teams ignored the rule and left the court. The league has remained silent over the matter.

Reporters at Outkick reached out to the league, and the WNBA has yet to answer for the teams' absences. The teams had been warming up before they left the court ahead of the national anthem, leading to heavy backlash from online users who said that it was disrespectful.

The 2026 rulebook for the WNBA includes a provision that players, coaches, and trainers must be at the sideline or foul line when the anthem plays, but nothing of the sort took place at Game 1 of the WNBA finals. After the teams left, they were back second after the anthem played.

Game 2 is set to take place on Monday evening at the Chase Center, but when pressed by reporters at Outkick, neither team said what their plans for the anthem are going to be. Users online were outraged that the teams did not take the time to recognize the anthem.

"Appalling. 162 regular season games plus multiple playoff rounds, wouldn’t catch a MLB team pulling that garbage," one user said on X.

Another wrote, "I am truly surprised that the fans who paid good hard earned money for those tickets didn't boo both teams and walk out. What a bloody disgrace from this woke and protest league."