Storm and Liberty players walk off court during national anthem in WNBA season opener

Kicking off the WNBA season, New York Liberty and Seattle Storm players decided to head back to their locker rooms after the whistle sounded to start the game. In fact, they had started walking back during the national anthem as a statement against the injustice prevailing in the country.

Back in the first week of July, the league decided that this season will be all about spreading awareness against racial prejudice. And this involves wearing jerseys which would have ‘Black Lives Matter’, and ‘Say Her Name’ written on it.

As the season opener began, Layesha Clarendon- the Liberty guard dedicated the season to Breonna Taylor- one of the many killed due to police brutality. “Breonna Taylor was dedicated and committed to uplifting everyone around her,” Clarendon said.

Before the game began, the two teams decided to honor her memory by observing silence for 26 seconds- the age at which Taylor died. Taylor died on March 13 when cops broke into her boyfriend’s house in Louisville. They opened fire because her boyfriend had shot at them first. But according to her family, the police had given no information about their arrival- and the boyfriend simply thought someone was breaking in.

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