WNBA President Lisa Borders Discusses Players' Social Activism

WNBA President Lisa Borders said Friday night the league isn't trying to suppress players' efforts of social activism. She said the recent fines levied against three teams and their players were merely a way of enforcing uniform guidelines.

Doug Feinberg of the Associated Press spoke with Borders after it was announced the New York Liberty, Phoenix Mercury and Indiana Fever were each fined $5,000 while players were docked $500 each. The punishment came after the teams wore black warm-up shirts.

"The Adidas black shirts are not regulation," Borders said. "They are sponsor appropriate, but the Adidas plain black shirt would not be a regulation-issued shirt."

Borders told the AP there have been discussions between the Women's National Basketball Players Association and the league's executive council in recent weeks. So far, those talks haven't yielded an outcome that satisfies both sides:

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We were making every effort to engage our players. We made an effort to support them and we were trying to get them to come to the table to have a conversation. The players have an open invitation with the league. Our players are important to us. We believe in them. We want them to be the people they are and we're proud of them. We want to make sure they play well on the court and they are happy off the court.

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On July 9, four off-duty officers who were scheduled to provide security at a Minnesota Lynx game left their posts after players wore warm-up gear supporting Black Lives Matter. Tim Harlow and Randy Furst of the Star Tribune reported those issues have since been resolved.

Meanwhile, Nina Mandell of USA Today noted some WNBA players have staged a "media blackout" as a protest against the league.

"We want the players to know that we have supported them in the past, support them today and will continue to support them in the future," Borders told the AP. "We're not trying to stop them from expressing themselves."

The president's comments came as the league headed into its break for the Summer Olympics. Play will resume Friday, Aug. 26.