Brittney Griner.Photo:AP Photo/Ashley Landis
AP Photo/Ashley Landis
On Monday,ESPNobtained a copy of the police report about the incident, in which the WNBA said a “provocateur” followed Griner and her Phoenix Mercury teammates while yelling at the basketball star.Video of the incident showed the YouTuber, Alex Stein, pushing the team’s security guard while trying to get closer to Griner. The guard was intermittently bumped into Griner as she continued walking down the concourse alongside her teammates.
The police report says the team’s security guard finally pushed the YouTuber up against a wall while Griner and her teammates waited behind a gate until police arrived to assist, according to ESPN.
The security official told police he didn’t want to press charges against the YouTuber, despite the internet streamer getting physical with him, the outlet reported.
Brittney Griner.Michael Gonzales/NBAE via Getty Images
Michael Gonzales/NBAE via Getty Images
“People following with cameras saying wild remarks is never acceptable. Excessive harassment,” Griner’s teammate Brianna Turnerwroteon Twitter. “Our team nervously huddled in a corner unsure how to move about. We demand better.”
The incident cast new criticism over the WNBA’s policy against providing teams with chartered flights throughout the season. The league long refused to provide any chartered flights because of costs but recently announced prior to the 2023 season they would provide some, including for the postseason and certain regular season games.
Brittney Griner.Sipa via AP Images
Sipa via AP Images
However, criticshave slammedthe move as a “small step” that does little to address the inequality between men’s and women’s athletic leagues in the United States.
The leaguesaidafter the Dallas airport incident that before the season it had “worked together with the Phoenix Mercury and [Griner’s] team to ensure her safety during her travel, which included charter flights for WNBA games and assigned security personnel with her at all times.”
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Griner was imprisoned in Russia on charges U.S. officials heavily disputed back in February 2022. She was then released in a prisoner exchange between the two countries last December, andmade her emotional return to the court last month. Griner and her teammates were flying to Indiana out of Dallas over the weekend, following a heartfelt return home to the WNBA star’s native Texas.“It was good seeing everybody and just being back in Texas,” Griner said after the team’s first game in Dallas last week. “I miss being here. When I came out and they announced my name, the love meant a lot to me.”
source: people.com
