Some WNBA players celebrated Wednesday after Democrat Raphael Warnock projected to defeat incumbent Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler in a critical Senate election in Georgia. WNBA players campaigned for Warnock after Loeffler, co-owner of the WNBA Atlanta Dream team, criticized the league’s support for the Black Lives Matter movement.
“I woke up and just smiled remembering that once Kelly Loeffler tried to come for the W and we helped @ReverendWarnock take her seat in the Senate, “New York Liberty player Layshia Clarendon tweeted on Wednesday.” Winning never felt so damn. “
“Not only is Raphael Warnock’s first black senator in Georgia he is the first black democratic senator ever elected in the South,” he wrote In front of Phoenix Mercury, Brianna Turner. “50 years ago, that was unimaginable. I wonder where the south will be 50 years from today.”
The WNBA and Atlanta Dream headlined their support for the entire Black Lives Matter league over the summer with warm-ups and BLM shirts, a statement Loeffler rejected in June and asked the WNBA commissioner, Cathy Engelbert, let it end.
In a statement mocking the protest in August, Loeffler called the players’ shirts a sign of a canceling culture. “This is just one more proof that the culture that cancels control wants to exclude anyone who disagrees with them,” he said. “Clearly the league is more concerned with playing politics than basketball and I’m on the side of what I wrote in June.”
In response, the Atlanta Dream and other high-ranking WNBA members supported the Reverend Warnock, even wearing “Vote Warnock” T-shirts to their games.
Atlanta Dreams striker Elizabeth Williams told the New York Times that the idea for the shirts came from WNBA Seattle Storm legend Sue Bird. Bird, who shared a photo of himself in the Warnock jersey on Wednesday, told Deadspin last month that players chose not to attack Loeffler and support Warnock.
“We’ve found that voice that we have together is quite powerful,” Bird told the sports company. “The size of our league allows it, we have about 144 players in the league, but we’ve had to go through our career fighting for things … So we’ve developed that backbone and we’ve learned to fight for And now we’re lending this struggle to others. “
The Times also reported that the idea was discussed and approved by Stacey Abrams, who holds an advisory position on the board of the WNBA Players Association. Just two days after players wore the shirts, the campaign raised more than $ 185,000 online, added 3,500 base donors and increased Warnock’s Twitter account by nearly 3,500 followers, a campaign official said. and CBS News.
The players maintained their activism in the following months, serving as workers and pollsters shedding light on the causes of racial justice in the months leading up to election day. Dream player Renee Montgomery opted last season to fight for social justice reform and voter advocacy in Georgia. Some Dream players narrated one “More than one vote” ad posted Monday calling for people to vote in Georgia’s second-round races. In the video, Williams asked his supporters to vote for Warnock and Jon Ossoff, the other Democrat running for a Senate seat.
Warnock is about to become the first black senator in Georgia’s history. Data from exit polls show he won 92% of the state’s black votes.
“We were told we couldn’t win this election,” Warnock said as he addressed supporters on Wednesday. “But tonight we have shown with hope, work and the people by our side, anything is possible. That my story is an inspiration to a young man trying to grasp and catch the American dream.”
While the WNBA protest also called for Loeffler’s withdrawal, neither she nor co-owner Mary Brock have said the dream is for sale. However, Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James put the hat in the ring as a potential buyer, suggesting on Twitter who wants to “gather a group of property” to buy the equipment. James, who runs More Than One Vote, also said he was “proud” of what he saw in Georgia voters on Tuesday.
“I’m proud of my people for going out there and doing what they can do best,” James said they told reporters. “And that’s being heard, being seen and being powerful and being committed.”