Carmelo Anthony is not happy with the WNBA for fining players who supported recent police shootings of Philando Castile and Alton Sterling, as well as the slain officers in Dallas.
“I don’t see no reason to fine them. If anything you should want to support them,” Anthony told ESPN.
The WNBA fined the New York Liberty, Phoenix Mercury, Indiana Fever and their players for T-shirts honoring the Black Lives Matter movement and the offiers during warm-ups, as reported recently by the Defender.
Each team will be fined $5,000, while the participating players will be fined $500 each.
WNBA officials say the black shirts violated the league’s uniform requirements.
“A bunch of teams did it and individuals did it. Everybody has their own freedom of speech,” Anthony told the website Thursday. If they decide to use the platforms to do that, I don’t see any reasons for anybody to get fined. We did it. The NBA did it two years ago. The NBA was very supportive. I don’t see why it would be different this time.”
Anthony recently said that athletes should step up against police brutality so it comes as now surprise that he is not here for these fines. He also recently spoke at the ESPYs with Chris Paul, LeBron James and Dwayne Wade, urging their fellow athletes to be socially active.