As if the 2026 controversies engulfing the WNBA weren’t enough, now dumb scenes from 2025 are rearing their ugly head once again.
During Thursday night’s game between the Los Angeles Sparks and Atlanta Dream, a fan threw a green dildo on the court during a free throw attempt. The green dildos were a common theme at WNBA games last year, as “fans” threw them onto the court at venues across the country in an attempt to mock the sport and draw viral attention.
ANOTHER green dildo has hit a WNBA court 😭 pic.twitter.com/du0xrFSJjV
— BrickCenter (@BrickCenter_) August 21, 2026
It happened again on Friday as three were thrown onto the court during the Chicago Sky’s matchup with the Golden State Valkyries.
The three green dildos thrown on the court at Wintrust Arena in the third quarter of the Chicago Sky-Golden State Valkyries game. https://t.co/bJZugXCqSM pic.twitter.com/HZW7SZrwaS
— Colin Salao (@colincsalao) August 22, 2026
The trend was condemned by voices inside and outside of the league. However, with the WNBA now the hottest political football in sports thanks to Sophie Cunningham and the transgender athlete debate, the league is filled with a kind of toxicity that has never been seen before. And players like Natasha Cloud have had enough.
After the Sky defeated the Valkyries 73-70, the Chicago guard went off in her postgame press conference about the offenders, calling the people throwing them “weak” and “lame as f*ck.”
Natasha Cloud with a message for people throwing dildos on the court: pic.twitter.com/0EbXSwRSTj
— Underdog WNBA (@UnderdogWNBA) August 22, 2026
“Y’all lame as f*ck, sorry mom,” Cloud said. “In most of these occasions, it’s men. I want you to know that is the gayest thing that you can do, is to go to a store, a sex shop, buy a dildo, come to a women’s game, to throw the dildo on the court. That is the gayest sh*t that I’ve ever heard. I’m a firm believer in anyone that has so much problem with a certain marginalized group, just come out and say that you’re a part of our marginalized group, because that hate is unwarranted. It’s not factual.”
“And it says more about the internal struggles of that individual than it ever will say about the collective group. The men that are throwing it, it also shows that you are weak, like extremely weak. And it says a lot about how you feel about women. You don’t care about the disruption of the game, you all lame as sh*t, you all gay to us. We see it. Keep throwing them if you just want to keep telling us you’re gay.”
Naturally, Cloud was jumped on by WNBA critics for invoking homophobic language, even though she identifies as LGBT herself. And it’s that kind of gotcha games and cat-and-mouse scenarios that bad actors are crying out for in trying to ragebait female athletes.
But you can certainly understand the frustration and anger that is coming from her and any WNBA player about this. It’s one thing for political commentators to try to use the league as a prop to their advantage to fight culture wars. It’s another to actually buy a ticket and go to the game with the sole intent of disrupting pro athletes and making a mockery of them. And if anyone actually applauds this kind of behavior while saying they are trying to protect women’s sports, it shows who they really are.
No other sports league has had to deal with justifying their existence against haters and trolls like this, and if tepid WNBA leadership isn’t going to call it out for what it is and stand up for the league, then it’s up to the players to make strong statements to do so.
About Matt Yoder