Sky player's DNC attendance highlights league's history at the forefront of sports intersection with politics
Sky forward Michaela Onyenwere wasn’t even a teenager the first time she heard Barack Obama speak at a rally in Denver in 2008.
The memory from 16 years ago is still vivid in her mind. So when Sky principal owner Michael Alter asked players if they’d like to attend the Democratic National Convention, Onyenwere jumped at the opportunity to hear former first lady Michelle Obama address the crowd at the United Center on Tuesday night. She was unaware and happily surprised to learn that Barack would follow her with an address of his own.
‘‘That was a really, really good surprise,’’ Onyenwere said. ‘‘But Michelle was just so powerful. She spoke with such passion. It made you think, ‘Wow, this is something that’s great to see, somebody who looks like me in this position.’ ’’
Onyenwere attended the DNC with teammates Brianna Turner and Elizabeth Williams. Their presence served as a reminder that WNBA players always have been at the forefront of sports’ intersection with politics.
In 2020, the Dream supercharged efforts to elect Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) as senator.
Their support was sparked by Kelly Loeffler, the former Dream co-owner and former Republican senator. Loeffler had sent a letter to WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert expressing disapproval of the league’s decision to paint ‘‘Black Lives Matter’’ on courts in the WNBA bubble in Bradenton, Florida. She then went on to say that Black Lives Matter was divisive in a nationally broadcast interview.
Players quickly spoke out against Loeffler’s stance and less than a month later began showing up to games in ‘‘Vote Warnock’’ T-shirts.
‘‘Power of the Dream,’’ a documentary produced by TOGETHXR, premiered on Prime Video in June. It details how players in the WNBA had an impact on U.S. politics during the bubble season.
WNBA players’ history of opting not to remain apolitical did not start with their support of Warnock in 2020. In July 2016, Maya Moore, Lindsay Whalen, Rebekkah Brunson and Seimone Augustus of the Lynx called a news conference to address racial profiling and police brutality ahead of their game against the Wings.
They wore T-shirts to the news conference that said ‘‘Change Starts With Us’’ and had the names of Philando Castile and Alton Sterling — two Black men who were shot to death by police — on the back. The then-reigning WNBA champions proceeded to wear the shirts during warmups. The Minneapolis Star Tribune later reported that four off-duty police officers working the game walked off the job after the news conference.
That same season, WNBA players began kneeling for the national anthem in protest of police brutality.
‘‘There are a lot of people who see sports as an escape,’’ Turner said. ‘‘They get to clock out of their jobs and whatever they do with their day-to-day life and watch sports to kind of take their minds off things. At the end of the day, yes, we’re athletes, but at the same time, we’re humans. We’re voters. We live in the same world. I know a lot of people might see it as, ‘‘Well, why? Why can’t they just shoot and dribble and do all these other things?’ ’’
The answer to that question is simple, Turner said: ‘‘We’re more than athletes.’’
During this contentious moment in American politics, many would prefer that people in general, not only athletes, remain apolitical. But for WNBA players -— and, specifically, the members of the Sky who attended the DNC — expressing their beliefs is a practice that feels natural, especially in this moment.
‘‘In this instance, it’s not hard at all because of what’s on the other side,’’ Onyenwere said. ‘‘I know what I believe in. I know what’s right. In this specific situation, we have a great opportunity to highlight somebody like Kamala Harris.’’