 "Indiana Fever's Sophie Cunningham became the latest player in the WNBA to be targeted by a sex toy thrown from the crowd. AP")
The WNBA continued to witness sex toys being hurled towards the court during games, the latest such incident taking place during Tuesday’s meeting between Los Angeles Sparks and Indiana Fever in Los Angeles. Fever star Sophie Cunningham was the latest player affected by the bizarre trend, with a green toy being thrown in her direction during the second quarter of the game that took place at Crypto.com Arena.
Incidentally, the Fever guard had previously asked fans to stop throwing sex toys onto the court, only for her plea to fall on deaf ears.
“this did NOT age well,” Cunningham wrote on Wednesday quote-tweeting a post on Saturday in which she had urged fans to stop throwing objects towards the court.
The 28-year-old also reacted to the incident on Instagram.
“No way that thing actually hit me. I knew I shouldn’t have tweeted that,” Cunningham wrote in a ‘Story’.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsThe incident caused the Sparks-Fever game to be halted briefly. Spectators at the venue, additionally, could be heard booing and pointing towards who they thought was the person responsible.
Investigation underway to identify culprit
The LA Sparks, meanwhile, praised the venue’s security for taking swift action in order to ensure the game rolled on without much delay, while adding that investigation was underway in order to identify the culprit.
“During last night’s game, an object was thrown onto the court by a fan. Crypto.com Arena security responded immediately and removed the item without delay, allowing the game to resume safely and without further interruption," CNN quoted an official statement from the Sparks.
“We commend the arena’s security team for their swift and professional response. Incidents of this nature are taken seriously, as they pose a risk to players, officials, and others on the court. We are working with arena personnel to identify the individual responsible and ensure appropriate action is taken.
“Fan conduct that disrupts the game or compromises the safety of anyone in the arena will not be tolerated,” it continued.
The Sparks would end up defeating Fever 100-91 on Tuesday.
The WNBA had witnessed a couple of similar incidents over the past week, both involving the Golden State Valkyries – in their 77-75 victory over Atlanta Dream as well as their 73-66 victory over Chicago Sky.
The culprit responsible for the incident during the Atlanta game was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct, public indecency/indecent exposure, and criminal trespass, according to Reuters.