WNBA sex toy incidents linked to cryptocurrency group
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Aari McDonald, Natasha Howard and Lexie Hull of the Indiana Fever defend against the dribble of Julie Allemand of the Los Angeles Sparks.
PHOTO: AFP
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LOS ANGELES – A pair of reports published on Aug 7 linked the recent rise of sex toys being thrown onto Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) courts to a cryptocurrency group pushing a meme coin.
A spokesman for the group behind Green Dildo Coin took credit for the trend in an interview with USA Today, while The Athletic reviewed a live stream of cryptocurrency enthusiasts in which speakers celebrated a sex toy being thrown onto the Los Angeles Sparks’ court on Aug 5.
The group have claimed that their meme coin’s goal was to combat a “toxic” environment in the cryptocurrency world and insisted that their members did not “dislike women’s sports” – although it is unclear why Green Dildo Coin advocates have fixated on the WNBA.
Regardless, WNBA players and coaches have widely criticised the trend, citing safety concerns alongside the unneeded ridicule it has brought to the league. There have been six known incidents of neon-green sex toys being thrown at WNBA games since July 29, per USA Today.
The latest incident came during the Sparks’ home win over the Indiana Fever on Aug 5. Late in the first half, after Kelsey Plum of Los Angeles shot a free throw, a sex toy was tossed onto the court landing near the feet of Fever guard Sophie Cunningham.
Earlier that day, Cunningham addressed the growing trend on her podcast Show Me Something, saying: “Everyone’s trying to make sure the W is not a joke and it’s taken seriously, and then that happens. I’m like, how are we ever going to get taken seriously?”
The crypto group’s spokesman defended the stunts, saying: “We didn’t do this because like we dislike women’s sports or, like, some of the narratives that are trending right now are ridiculous.
“Creating disruption at games is like, it happens in every single sport, right? We’ve seen it in the NFL (National Football League), we’ve seen it in hockey, you know... fans doing random things to more or less create attention.
“We knew that in order to get a voice in the space... we had to go out and do some viral stunts to save us from having to pay that influencer cabal, sacrifice our souls and the fate of the project.”
The group placed one of its sex toys on the Wall Street bull statue in New York. And the meme coin’s value has grown more than 300 per cent in the past seven days, USA Today reported.
The first major incident has led to an arrest and multiple charges for its perpetrator, Delbert Carver, who tossed a sex toy onto the Atlanta Dream’s court on July 29. He was released on bond and charged with disorderly conduct, public indecency/indecent exposure and criminal trespass.
Despite that, it is not apparent that Green Dildo Coin plans to stop its stunts.
“This is empowering to every (expletive) crypto community to start thinking outside the box,” one person said on the live stream reviewed by The Athletic. “Get creative and (expletive) do something that makes people actually laugh. Meme coins should make you laugh.”
Meanwhile in the National Basketball Association (NBA), the US$6.1 billion (S$7.8 billion) sale of the Boston Celtics to William Chisholm and partners is expected to close within the next two weeks, Sportico reported on Aug 7.
The deal is still pending the approval from the NBA’s board of governors, made up of the 30 team owners. Their vote can be conducted remotely.
A group led by Chisholm announced plans to purchase the Celtics from the Grousbeck family in March. At the time, the US$6.1 billion price tag was the highest-ever paid for a North American sports franchise.
In June, Mark Walter reached an agreement to purchase the Los Angeles Lakers at a US$10 billion valuation.
Chisholm, the co-founder and managing partner of the California-based private equity firm STG Partners, is a Massachusetts native and long-time Celtics fan. He is expected to take over as the team’s governor from Wyc Grousbeck after the 2027-28 season.
Grousbeck and the ownership group Boston Basketball Partners purchased the Celtics for US$360 million in 2002. REUTERS
