The truth behind the harassment incidents in the NBA women’s league.

A series of incidents involving sex toys in the WNBA (Women’s National Basketball Association) has raised alarm bells about ethics and gender discrimination in the United States.

The problem began with an incident in late July when a fan threw a sex toy onto the court. What seemed like an isolated incident, seemingly without a system in place, triggered a series of similar incidents, causing outrage among athletes, coaches, and commentators.

A group of meme creators using cryptocurrency as a basis for their actions took responsibility. This reveals a strange perspective on Gen Z culture, with its desire to spread opinions regardless of the consequences, and demonstrates the persistence of gender discrimination and prejudice within women’s sports.

Regarding the incident, Reuters and CNN reported that two men, aged 23 and 18, were arrested on charges of disorderly conduct, indecent behavior in public, and trespassing. The issue at the WNBA has become the subject of satire in many major American newspapers, while individuals in the basketball community feel deeply offended.

“Centuries have passed, yet women are still targeted in sexual matters,” said Minnesota Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve. “This is the latest version of defamation. There’s nothing funny about this. We’re not a joke.”

The WNBA is no stranger to sexist or racist behavior. While the league strives for openness and diversity, especially for women of color, this has also drawn the WNBA into the American culture war as the organization grows in size and popularity. Many believe the incident of throwing sex toys during games is the latest manifestation of this.

“The female athletes were just doing their job, playing basketball. So, those who threw objects onto the court were harassing women in the workplace,” Assistant Professor Mariel Barnes of the University of Wisconsin-Madison told CNN. “Incidents like this show that society still has prejudice and hatred towards women, especially successful women. This is just the tip of the iceberg, with a much stronger backlash targeting women in modern society.”

In the WNBA incident, a group specializing in creating cryptocurrency-related memes was behind it. A representative of the group told USA Today that members began throwing green objects onto the court to introduce a new meme named after a type of sex toy.

Before carrying out the first incident on July 29, members of the group chatted, sent each other images of the new meme, and discussed which WNBA game the joke would appear in. They hoped their actions would spread widely. And when the toy was thrown onto the field during the Golden State Valkyries’ victory over the Atlanta Dream, the group became extremely excited.

Since then, three more sex toys have appeared on the field during WNBA games, not including two others that were thrown but didn’t land. Police have arrested two people involved. Confirming to CNN, the group’s “leaders” stated that one of the detained men was a member of the community, and the other wanted to imitate them.

Beyond gender issues, these repeated unfortunate incidents are also encouraging another treacherous online activity among American youth: gambling. On the Polymarket website, many people have spent over $460,000 betting on the possibility of another sex toy appearing in future games. Another website even accepts bets on the color of the next object thrown.

On social media platform X, a user – whose name matches that of someone who spoke with ESPN and USA Today – posted a screenshot of winning $20,000 in a related bet. According to this anonymous individual, their group wanted to draw attention to protest the instability in the cryptocurrency market and “raise awareness about meme culture.” A representative of the group denied any suggestion that their actions were disrespectful to female athletes or intentionally targeted women.

The group also stated they were targeting other leagues, including men’s sports events, notably attempting to broadcast an image of a sex toy during an MLB baseball game, and hinted they would not stop.

Regarding the WNBA, in addition to strongly condemning the action, the organizers issued an official statement that any spectator found throwing a sex toy onto the field would be prosecuted and banned from the arena. WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert called the behavior unacceptable and stated that “the vandal will be charged with a felony.”

On the players’ side, some were bewildered, others even joked about the situation, while a group of players were extremely upset. Sky center Elizabeth Williams told reporters: “It was very disrespectful. I really don’t understand the meaning of this. It’s really childish. Whoever is doing this or thinking of doing it, grow up.”

Ultimately, what the female athletes were most concerned about wasn’t necessarily the issue of vandalism.