WNBA Finals Anthem Row Deepens as Dream and Valkyries Skip It for a Second Straight Game

Atlanta Dream star Angel Reese

The WNBA Finals have a controversy brewing off the court. For the second game in a row, the Atlanta Dream and the Golden State Valkyries stayed off the floor during the national anthem before Monday night's Game 2 at Chase Center in San Francisco. Both teams left the court less than a minute before singer Alanis Morissette performed the anthem — and returned just seconds after she finished, repeating exactly what they did in Game 1 on Saturday.

The problem for the teams is the league's own rulebook. The WNBA's 2026 official rulebook says players, coaches and trainers must stand and line up in a dignified posture along the sidelines or the foul line during the anthem. Neither team has explained why it skipped the ceremony, and repeated requests for comment to both franchises and the league office went unanswered.

The repeat absences have sparked a fierce debate among fans, with supporters calling it a legitimate protest and critics accusing the players of disrespecting both the country and their own rulebook. The league has not said whether any discipline is planned, but with the Finals now under a national spotlight, the anthem row is threatening to overshadow the basketball itself.

Source: Fox News

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Fairbairn's Walk-Off Field Goal Seals Wembley Thriller as Texans Edge Jaguars 34-31

Ka'imi Fairbairn drilled a 49-yard field goal as time expired to give the Houston Texans a dramatic 34-31 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars at Wembley Stadium on Sunday. It was a fitting end to a wild afternoon in London that began with the referee being carted off injured in the opening seconds and featured Corgi races entertaining the crowd at half-time. Quarterback C.J. Stroud threw for 312 yards and three touchdowns for Houston, while Jacksonville's Trevor Lawrence answered with 306 yards and four scores of his own. The game's standout was two-way star Travis Hunter, who caught a touchdown and intercepted Stroud in the end zone — the first player to score a touchdown and record an interception in the same game since 2002. Jacksonville's Cam Little tied the game at 31-31 with a booming 60-yard field goal with under two minutes left, but Stroud calmly drove Houston into range for Fairbairn's winner. The victory moved the Texans to 2-4, their second straight wi...
Read more

Anthropic IPO: Public S-1 Filing Expected Today Ahead of $2 Trillion Listing

Image
Anthropic, the AI company behind Claude, is set to publicly file its S-1 IPO registration as soon as Friday, October 23, three people familiar with the plans told Yahoo Finance. The filing would start the clock on one of the biggest tech listings ever: a Nasdaq debut targeted for mid-November, with some investors weighing a valuation near $1.5–2 trillion. A draft of the prospectus, reviewed earlier this week by the Wall Street Journal and Reuters, showed the scale of the bet: $16.3 billion in first-half 2026 revenue against a net loss of $80.7 billion — though about $72 billion of that was a non-cash accounting charge tied to convertible notes. Third-quarter revenue hit $16.8 billion with adjusted profitability and positive cash flow, while long-term computing commitments run above $518 billion. Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan are lined up to lead the offering, with the IPO roadshow expected the week of November 9 and trading before Thanksgiving. The filing would make Anthro...
Read more

Netflix Beats Earnings but Slashes Ad Forecast — Stock Tumbles After Hours

Image
Netflix made more money than Wall Street expected last quarter — but investors cared more about where growth is heading, and the streaming giant's stock slipped after hours on Tuesday. The company reported third-quarter revenue of $12.87 billion, up about 12% from a year earlier and in line with forecasts. Earnings per share came in at $0.87, beating the $0.82 analysts expected, while net income surged 44% to $3.66 billion. Operating margin widened to an impressive 34.6% from 28.2% a year ago. But Netflix cut its 2026 advertising revenue forecast to about $2.7 billion from roughly $3 billion, citing a slower-than-expected rollout of its ad products. Its fourth-quarter outlook also disappointed, sending shares down around 4–6% in after-hours trading. The company said it plans to bring its ad-supported plan to 15 additional countries in 2027. With subscriber growth steady and churn improving, the ad business is now the number investors are watching most closely. Source: read more
Read more