Carmelo Anthony expressed his disappointment in the WNBA after the league fined several teams and multiple players for wearing black during warmups, a signal they were supporting the Black Lives Matter movement.
MORE: Politics and sports
“A bunch of teams did it,” Anthony told the New York Post. “Everyone has their own freedom of speech if they decide to use the platform. I don’t see no reason for anybody to get fined. We did it (3 1/2 years ago after the Trayvon Martin shooting). The NBA did it. The NBA was very supportive. I don’t see any difference in this matter. Right now the players have a very strong stance in what they believe in right now. I don’t think anyone should be fighting that at this moment.”
The New York Liberty, Phoenix Mercury and Indiana Fever were fined $5,000 and their players were fined $500 apiece for wearing plain black shirts instead of their normal warmup uniforms.
The Liberty wore the plain black shirts several times before they were fined.
Anthony isn't the only one speaking out against the fines the WNBA has levied against the teams. The Mercury's Kelsey Bone, the Fever's Briann January and the Seattle Storm's Alysha Clark spoke out about what they called the WNBA's hypocrisy.