The national anthem controversy of Game 1 of the WNBA Finals has taken a life of its own. While both the Golden State Valkyries and the Atlanta Dream faced each other in the first contest of the championship series, their decision to leave the court before the national anthem ‌attracted backlash from people inside and outside of sports. 

Outkick’s reporter Dan Zaksheske, who had previously mocked players for leaving the court during the national anthem, has hit back at them again, and this time, he brought the WNBA’s rulebook. 

“The WNBA’s own rulebook says players, coaches and trainers are to stand and line up for the national anthem. Both Finals teams left the court before the Game 1 anthem and returned seconds after it ended,” he wrote in a post on X. “We asked the league and both teams to explain. None answered.”

After Saturday’s contest, Zaksheske wrote in his report that Outkick was present at the postgame press conference and had planned to ask teams about their decision. However, they were not called on. The WNBA reporter brought attention to the WNBA’s own rule regarding the national anthem.

“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,” the rule says. 

Before Goapele started singing the national anthem, players from both teams left the court and jogged off towards the locker room. They jogged back onto the floor right after it was over. The rule certainly requires both team members, including coaches, to follow the rule, but if they are not on the court to begin with, it creates a gray area.

“If Saturday’s absences were simply part of the teams’ pregame routines, both have had an opportunity to explain that,” Zaksheske wrote on Saturday. “Neither has done so in response to OutKick’s inquiries.”

“But a pregame routine that keeps players off the floor during the national anthem deserves scrutiny.”

Zaksheske is not the only person who has criticized players’ actions.

Emily Austin slams Dreams and Valkyries’ national anthem decision, met with a blunt reply from former NBA player

While the Atlanta Dream and the Golden State Valkyries shift their focus to Game 2 at Chase Center, discussion on social media keeps fueling the national anthem controversy. After Zaksheske, sports media personality Emily Austin slammed the players for their “disgraceful” actions. 

“Walking out during the national anthem is disgraceful. If you hate this country so much, you’re free to leave,” Austin wrote in reply to a post on X. 

Austin’s post received 254K views and 22K likes, which also added even more attention to the incident. However, she was quickly met with a blunt response from five-time NBA champion and a former member of Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls, Ron Harper. 

“Shut, and it’s the team’s choice, not yours,” he responded. 

Mind you, this is the first time that the Valkyries appeared to have boycotted the national anthem, but Dream have done this before. In 2020, the WNBA players took a strict stance against racial injustice in the country. While the national anthem was being sung during a game in Aug. 2020, Atlanta players decided to stay in the locker room. 

When asked about their decision, the WNBPA (players’ union) said that “The anthem does not represent freedom, justice and liberty for all Americans. We will continue to protest in various forms.”

Linda Cohn jumps into the national anthem controversy

While the league and both teams have kept mum about the issue, every hour, another name jumps into the controversy. While former ESPN host Linda Cohn was lenient in her criticism, she was still disappointed in the players’ actions.

“I was really disappointed to see both teams run off the court right before the national anthem was played, only to run back out on the court the second the anthem was over,” Cohn said on her YouTube show. “Would it have been so difficult to just stand there for 2 minutes? I mean, nobody is asking any of these players to put their hand over their heart or even sing the national anthem.”

Beyond 2020 and Game 1 on Saturday, there have been multiple incidents when players have gone against national anthem protocol. 

In August 2017, in solidarity with the players, WNBA suspended the national anthem protocol after teams continued to lock arms with each other during the national anthem. According to ESPN, players’ actions were in protest against the racially charged violence that occurred in Charlottesville, Virginia. Nneka Ogwumike, the players’ association president, had said that players’ breaking the national anthem protocol showed players’ “depth of character.”

Neither the players nor the teams have clarified the issue they were protesting against, if there was any.