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Sports · North America

Valkyries and Dream players leave court before anthem for third Finals game

Players from the Atlanta Dream and Golden State Valkyries left the court before the national anthem for a third straight WNBA Finals game, after doing so before Games 1 and 2. Vice President JD Vance called the players’ absence “disgraceful” and said they should not use the anthem to criticize a politician’s public policy.

AI-assisted synthesis · Based on 4 outlets' reporting · Article text read from 2 of 4 outletsHow it's made

View timeline · 8 entries
4 outlets2 regionsLatest reporting 3 min read
Coverage: Mostly RightL 0 · C 1 · R 3

What happened

Key facts

  • The players’ departure from the court before the anthem continued at Game 3 (per themirror.com, Fox News, dailymail.com).
  • Vice President JD Vance criticized the players’ absence and called it “disgraceful.” (per themirror.com, New York Post, dailymail.com).
  • Vance said players should not criticize a politician’s public policy by disrespecting the country (per themirror.com, New York Post).
  • Players and coaches from both teams returned to the court after the anthem ended in Games 1 and 2 (per themirror.com, New York Post).
  • The Mirror reported that anthem protocols were suspended in 2017 after the Charlottesville rally and that the league sent a memo to teams (per themirror.com).
  • The New York Post reported that the WNBA rulebook calls for players to stand and line up during the national anthem.
  • Vance said the players were treating the United States as an oppressor despite the rights and opportunities American women have (per New York Post).

The brief

Players from the Atlanta Dream and Golden State Valkyries left the court before the national anthem for a third straight WNBA Finals game, continuing a pattern from the first two games. Vice President JD Vance publicly criticized the players, calling their absence “disgraceful.”

The Mirror reported that players and coaches from both teams returned after the anthem ended in Games 1 and 2. Its account says the same action continued at Game 3 in Atlanta, where the game was scheduled for Wednesday night at State Farm Arena. Fox News and the Daily Mail headlines also reported that players from both teams skipped or left before the anthem for Game 3. Vance made his comments Wednesday in an interview with Raymond Arroyo on “Arroyo Grande.” He said people should not use criticism of a politician’s public policy to disrespect the country as a whole. He also invoked a Christian understanding of belonging to a national community. The New York Post included a different element of the dispute: it reported that the WNBA rulebook specifically calls for players to stand and line up during the anthem. The Mirror, meanwhile, described the league’s earlier handling of anthem protocol, saying the protocols were suspended in 2017 after the Charlottesville rally and a memo was sent to teams. These accounts address separate aspects of league policy: the reported rulebook provision and the earlier suspension of protocols. The New York Post also quoted Vance saying that the players were treating a country that had given them “extraordinary privileges” as an oppressor. He contrasted that characterization with rights and opportunities he said American women have that remain rare or unavailable to many women elsewhere. The outlet said Vance appeared to refer to Saint Augustine’s idea of Ordo Amoris, which he had cited in 2025 while defending administration deportation policies. The reporting places Vance’s criticism alongside the players’ repeated departure from the court, but gives no explanation from the players for leaving. It also does not establish whether the league would take action over the rulebook provision. The immediate documented development is that the pre-anthem departure continued at Game 3 while Vance criticized the players’ conduct.

Why it matters

  • The Atlanta Dream and Golden State Valkyries players’ repeated departure put the league’s reported rulebook requirement to stand and line up in direct focus.
  • The immediate cost described is the public dispute over the players’ conduct: Vance called the absence “disgraceful,” while the players’ own reasons are not reported.
  • The Mirror’s account says the league suspended anthem protocols in 2017 and sent teams a memo, a detail relevant to how the current rulebook provision is interpreted.

What to watch next

  • Whether players from the Atlanta Dream and Golden State Valkyries leave the court before the anthem at the next WNBA Finals game.
  • Whether the WNBA addresses the reported rulebook requirement that players stand and line up during the anthem.
  • Whether either team or the league responds to Vance’s criticism.

How it's being covered

Coverage analysisShow details
5 source articles · 4 unique outlets
Outlet political mix: Mostly Right· 1 Center · 3 Right
Where the outlets are based: US/Canada 75% · Europe 25%
Outlet political mix
Mostly Right
Left
Center
Right
0 outlets
1 outlet
3 outlets
The marker shows coverage balance: each unique outlet counts once.
Geography
Where the outlets covering this story are based.
4 unique outletsDominant coverage: US/Canada
Coverage imbalance
  • Coverage is currently concentrated among Right-rated outlets (3 of 4 rated sources); comparatively few Left-rated outlets have published on the event.
  • Coverage is currently concentrated among outlets based in US/Canada (3 of 4 geographically-identified sources).
How we measure coverage

How outlets' accounts compare

1 framing difference · 2 uncorroborated claims · 2 information gaps
The reports repeat the same account with different emphasis; its central claims are not independently confirmed in the reporting Updat3 read.Compared across 2 reports whose article text Updat3 read; 2 other outlets were checked by headline only.
Framing / emphasis differences
Sources emphasise different angles, actors or consequences of the same reporting.
  • The Mirror centers the continuation of the players’ departure and reports their return after the anthem in the first two games; the New York Post emphasizes Vance’s criticism and the rulebook provision.
Updat3: These are differences of emphasis, not disputes about what is reported. They do not show that the reported claims are true.
One-sided or uncorroborated claims
Claims that come from one party or one source family and are not independently corroborated.
  • Vance called the players’ absence “disgraceful” and said they should not criticize a politician’s public policy by disrespecting the country.
  • The New York Post quoted Vance saying the players treated the country as an oppressor despite the rights and opportunities American women have.
Updat3: Not independently corroborated yet — treat as a claim, not an established fact.
Not established by the reporting
Information the available reporting does not contain or confirm. This is a gap, not a disagreement.
  • The sources do not explain why the players left the court.
  • The sources do not provide the players’ explanation for leaving the court or establish how the league would apply the reported rulebook provision.
Updat3: Updat3 cannot conclude anything about this from the current sources.

Timeline

Developments from this story's sources, dated background we compiled and fact-checked, and our earlier coverage. Each row says which.
  1. The WNBA began play in 1997, and its uniform and anthem policies have since framed conflicts over how players can use league events to express political views.
    Background · from our historical context
  2. The WNBA played its inaugural season.
    Background · compiled and fact-checked by Updat3
  3. The Atlanta Dream joined the WNBA.
    Background · compiled and fact-checked by Updat3
  4. Players from several WNBA teams wore black warmup shirts to call attention to police violence and racial inequality.
    Background · compiled and fact-checked by Updat3
  5. The WNBA suspended its anthem protocols and sent a memo to teams after the Charlottesville rally.
    Background · compiled and fact-checked by Updat3
  6. Golden State announced it would add a WNBA expansion team.
    Background · compiled and fact-checked by Updat3
  7. Golden State named its WNBA expansion team the Valkyries.
    Background · compiled and fact-checked by Updat3
  8. The Valkyries played their inaugural WNBA season.
    Background · compiled and fact-checked by Updat3

How we got here

Before Game 3, players and coaches from the Atlanta Dream and Golden State Valkyries had also left the court before the anthem at Games 1 and 2, then returned after it ended. The WNBA rulebook calls for players to stand and line up during the anthem, while a 2017 league memo suspended anthem protocols after the August 12 Charlottesville rally.

The dispute over players’ public political expression in the WNBA predates that memo. In July 2016, players from several teams wore black shirts during warmups to call attention to police violence and racial inequality; the league fined the New York Liberty, Phoenix Mercury and Indiana Fever for violating uniform rules, then rescinded the fines on August 4, 2016.

Original sources

4 of 5 articles · US/Canada · Show all

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