PHOENIX — Phoenix Mercury guard Sophie Cunningham said she and her teammates are upset over an airport harassment incident from over the weekend and railed against the WNBA over its failure to protect players.
"I don’t think people, or even our commissioner Cathy [Engelbert] or our league knows 90% of what BG [Brittney Griner] goes through," Cunningham said Tuesday at media availability after practice. "And honestly, it’s an embarrassment that our league doesn’t protect their players."
Griner and other team members were reportedly followed, shouted at, and recorded by a group of onlookers at the Dallas Fort Worth International Airport on Saturday.
"Us as women in the WNBA we do so much to try and help out with different cultures, different types of people, different types of charities," Cunningham said, "yet they're not willing to protect their product is embarrassing, straight up embarrassing."
According to a statement put out by the WNBA, the incident was "orchestrated by a social media figure and provocateur," and the organization denounced his actions as "inappropriate and unfortunate."
The league said it had "worked together with the Phoenix Mercury and BG's team to ensure her safety during her travel," as part of the same statement.
"Last time it was one person in the airport," Cunningham said. "Imagine if there (were) 10 people there, even if there (were) five. We have no protection."
Charter flights
Earlier in the year, the WNBA announced that the league would be expanding its use of charter flights to all 2023 WNBA playoff games and back-to-back regular season games, in addition to its previous use for the WNBA finals and the WNBA Commissioner's Cup Championship Game.
However, the Women's National Basketball Player's Association (WNBPA) claimed the league wasn't doing enough to protect players.
"Allowing teams to fly charter is ONLY about player health and safety, and until the league and teams take this issue seriously, situations like this will continue to occur.
"Every commercial flight forced upon our players is a threat to their health and safety. We implore the league and the teams not to wait another day to change the rule regarding travel," the WNBPA said.
Griner comeback
Griner returned to the Mercury after a 10-month detainment in Russia. She had been arrested at an airport just outside of Moscow on drug possession charges more than a year ago and was brought home in a dramatic high-level prisoner exchange in December.
The incident drew a lot of attention to the team and league.
"We expect that every night will be a media circus for us,” Mercury General Manager Jim Pitman said ahead of the season. “We’re going to see a lot of people who want to see BG, want to celebrate her, want to be part of what she’s meant to our country here. I think that we have to be prepared to play in front of those white-hot spotlights every night, but I think we’re built to do that."
Mat Ishbia
Mortgage executive and former Michigan State guard Mat Ishbia was named the new majority owner of the Phoenix Suns and WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury in February.
Cunningham said "he’s been phenomenal. He’s been so great."
"He’s been texting us to make sure we are safe and have everything we need," she said at Tuesday's media availability.
Cunningham said Ishbia knows the safety issues the team faces and is "trying to fight for us."
"But it’s really us versus the league," she said. "We are not asking to be treated like the men. We just want our percentages to change a little bit."
Sports
Watch more of the latest sports videos on the 12News YouTube channel. Don’t forget to subscribe!