Before Thursday night’s winner-take-all game in Las Vegas, the Fever players came onto the court chatting among themselves, with music blaring through Michelob ULTRA Arena. During shootaround, some of them even sang along with the songs playing over the speakers. Then the pregame routine moved on. The Fever stayed on the court as the arena prepared for the national anthem. The Aces, meanwhile, headed toward the tunnel. And OutKick writer Jon Root took immediate notice of this.
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“The Las Vegas Aces sprint off the court before Game 3 vs Fever because they don’t want to honor our country & participate in the National Anthem…,” wrote Root on X.
In the 17-second clip that accompanied Root’s post, the Aces squad can be seen heading towards the tunnel as the arena gets ready for the national anthem. It is unclear why the Aces headed toward the tunnel, but the footage quickly drew criticism online.
The series had already been tense by then. Las Vegas won Game 1 on Sunday, 102-85. Then Indiana forced a decider with a 99-89 win on Tuesday, a game in which A’ja Wilson, with 4:10 left, walked toward a fan seated behind the basket, pointing and shouting, and was called for a technical foul. Wilson said the fan had stepped toward her and pointed at her, behavior she described as unacceptable, while the Fever said in a statement that security found no violation of the Fan Code of Conduct. On Thursday, the AP reported that the league would not suspend or fine Wilson.
Game 3 started, and early in the second quarter, Indiana HC Stephanie White was given a technical as she protested a foul call against Lexie Hull after Brianna Turner grabbed hold of Hull while the two jostled for position in the lane, sending the Fever guard to the floor. The Fever were not granted a review because the request came outside the permitted review window, with the broadcast citing the WNBA Replay Center.
Caitlin Clark, too, got a technical, along with Brianna Turner. This was after Clark shoved Turner out of the huddle as the Fever were regrouping, with around 6:54 left in the first quarter. Yet, the dramatics didn’t end there. Clark was also left bleeding from the mouth in the fourth quarter after Jewell Loyd’s elbow caught her in the face, but no foul was called.
The No. 3 seed Aces, the reigning champions, eventually beat the No. 6 seed Fever 94-83, but the storylines ended up generating plenty of discussion away from the basketball itself.
Author Tom Young took a shot at the Aces while praising the Fever for their conduct.
“When you thought that A’ja Wilson and her Aces couldn’t be bigger pieces of [expletive]! In comparison, the Fever stood for the Anthem. Not only did Sophie Cunningham put her hand over her heart during the Anthem, but the shirt she wore when arriving in Vegas yesterday said ‘USA!’ It’s no wonder why the WNBA hates the Fever!” Young wrote.
Jaime Lardis went a step further, questioning whether two Aces players should have been on Team USA — namely Chelsea Gray and Jackie Young, part of the team that brought home a gold in the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup 2026. Wilson, too, was supposed to suit up before she withdrew because of health issues.
“The Indiana Fever are on the court for the National Anthem, but not the Las Vegas Aces; yet Jackie Young and Chelsea Gray, who played for Team USA….Nevermind. Yeah… they shouldn’t have been on Team USA!” Lardis wrote.
As for what the rulebook states, page 75 says: “(2) Players, coaches, and trainers are to stand and line up in a dignified posture along the sidelines or on the foul line during the playing of the National Anthem.”
However, it’s far from the first time that a team has skipped the national anthem.
In May 2025, the Liberty stayed in the locker room for the anthem in Indiana a week after the Sky had done the same. In August this year, the Dream stayed in before facing the Fever, with fans estimating that only about a third of WNBA teams were following the rule. In fact, even Clark was at the receiving end of some criticism back then, as only Sophie Cunningham from the Fever stood with her hand over her heart as the anthem played, while CC stood beside Cunningham with her hands behind her back.
Before that, Connecticut Sun rookie Raegan Beers stood by herself on the floor as the national anthem began, and her teammates walked toward the locker room.