Courtney Williams, Crystal Bradford Suspended for Altercation Outside Atlanta Club

Former Atlanta Dream players Courtney Williams and Crystal Bradford have been suspended without pay for their roles in an altercation outside of an Atlanta club and for violating health and safety protocols, the WNBA announced Tuesday. The incident occurred in May. 

Williams is suspend for two games, while Bradford is suspended for one. The suspensions will be served with the first regular season game that each player is eligible to compete in after signing a contract.

Williams and Bradford were involved in a fight earlier this year that was caught on video. Footage showed the two throwing punches near a food truck outside of an Atlanta club. Meredith Cash of Business Insider reported the situation escalated "when someone commented on Williams' girlfriend."

WNBA players' agent Marcus Crenshaw then revealed in October that the Dream were not bringing back either player and they would become free agents. He claims the team knew about the fight when it happened and didn't discipline the players until the video was released. 

"The team knew about the situation months ago," Crenshaw said. "Right now, the team is trying to act like they have the morals, and [they're] making [the players] some sort of scapegoats by saying they got put off the Dream because of the altercation."

Williams and Bradford both apologized for the incident, which was only one of a few issues the Dream battled this year. Head coach Nicki Collen left the organization for a coaching job at Baylor and No. 4 overall pick Chennedy Carter was suspended by the team on July 5 for "conduct detrimental to the team." 

Williams, 27, was drafted eighth overall by the Phoenix Mercury in 2016 and has also played for the Connecticut Sun. She led Atlanta with 16.5 points, 6.8 rebounds and four assists per game in 2021. In six seasons, the Georgia native averaged 12.7 points, 5.4 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game while shooting 43.9 percent from the field and 35.8 percent from deep. 

Bradford, meanwhile, was selected by the Los Angeles Sparks with the seventh overall pick in the 2015 draft. She has only played two WNBA seasons (2015 and 2021). Between those seasons, she played overseas. The Detroit native averaged 8.8 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game last season.