The WNBA and Atlanta Dream players are taking a stand against the team’s co-owner once again. The athletes previously called for Kelly Loeffler to sell her stake in the team after she criticized Black Lives Matter’s “radical ideals and Marxist foundations,” per CNN.
Loeffler is also a Republican Georgia senator and is currently running against Democratic challenger Rev. Raphael Warnock in the state’s special election. On Tuesday (Aug. 4), players from Atlanta Dream and other teams sported shirts wearing “Vote Warnock” as an opposition to Loeffler.
“We are [WNBA] players, but like the late, great John Lewis said, we are also ordinary people with extraordinary vision,” Dream player Elizabeth Williams tweeted. “[Rev. Warnock] has spent his life fighting for the people and we need him in Washington. Join the movement for a better Georgia at http://Warnockforgeorgia.com.”
Candidate Warnock responded to the athletes’ support on Twitter, writing, “I am honored and humbled by the overwhelming support from the [WNBA] players. This movement gives us the opportunity to fight for what we believe in, and I stand by all athletes promoting social justice on and off the court. #BlackLivesMatter.”
Since resuming the basketball season last week, several WNBA athletes have joined the public in demanding justice for George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, who were both killed by police officers earlier this year. After Loeffler made her initial comments condemning the Black Lives Matter movement, the Atlanta Dream responded in a statement.
“We are the women of the Atlanta Dream. We are women who support a movement. We are strong and we are fearless. We offer a voice to the voiceless,” they wrote.
“Our team is united in the Movement for Black Lives. It is not extreme to demand change after centuries of inequality. This is not a political statement. This is a statement of humanity.”
See Williams’ and Rev. Warnock’s tweets below.