Kelly Loeffler is reportedly 'close' to selling her ownership stake in the WNBA's Atlanta Dream
Mere weeks after WNBA players banded together to help oust Kelly Loeffler from her US Senate seat, the Georgia Republican and Atlanta Dream co-owner is reportedly on her way out of the league.
WNBA representatives confirmed to ESPN's Ramona Shelburne that "a sale of the franchise is close to being finalized," which would leave Loeffler without ties to the league for the first time in a decade. Shelburne reported that five different bidders could be involved in the fight to take over the franchise. Though LeBron James expressed interest in purchasing the team earlier this month, the identities of the potential new owners remain undisclosed.
"Once the sale negotiation is concluded, additional information will be provided," the WNBA spokesperson added.
Loeffler made an enemy of WNBA players through her controversial comments on racial disparities in the United States and the Black Lives Matter movement. The conflict between the Dream owner and the league's athletes came to a head last summer when Loeffler penned a letter to WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert. In the note, the pro-Trump politician came out against the players' plan to wear "Black Lives Matter" and "Say Her Name" warm-ups because it endorsed a "particular political agenda" and "sends a message of exclusion."
"It was draining and difficult and really hurtful to see how she could just still be an owner in our league," WNBA Social Justice Council member Layshia Clarendon — a former Atlanta player — told Insider last week. "[And] the things that she was saying while people were quite literally being murdered and right on camera."
When calls for Loeffler's banishment from the WNBA proved fruitless, and the league failed to take direct action, the players got creative. Through a breathtaking display of collective action, the WNBA's 144 players competing in the 2020 season backed one of Loeffler's Democratic opponents — Reverend Raphael Warnock — in her crowded Georgia Senate jungle election.
They went public with their endorsement on August 4, as players from six of the 12 teams wore T-shirts bearing his name before a slate of games. The remaining six teams donned the "Vote Warnock" pregame tops the following night.
Continued support from the WNBA players propelled Warnock through Georgia's special jungle election in November. Research suggests that their efforts were pivotal in enabling the Reverend to force January's runoff, which had significant national implications in determining which party would control the US Senate.
Then, on January 5, Warnock officially defeated Loeffler to become the first Black Democratic senator elected in a Southern state. And now, less than a month later, Loeffler appears to be fulfilling the WNBA players' request from the summer by charting her escape route out of the league.
"I don't know why she would still want to own in this league, particularly after we just ousted her in the Senate," Clarendon told Insider. "I can't imagine she wants to stay in this league and continue to be a part of everything that we've stood for. It just doesn't make a lot of sense to me."
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