Beginning on July 29<\/a>, three neon green sex toys have been thrown onto WNBA courts. At Tuesday night\u2019s New York Liberty game, an X video shows a similar object confiscated in the stands. Other social media users claimed there was an attempt to throw one at the Phoenix Mercury game, which was being played at the same time of the Sparks\u2019 contest.<\/p>\nDuring Tuesday\u2019s livestream, there was also talk of someone throwing another toy at the Seattle Storm\u2019s Climate Pledge Arena during Tuesday\u2019s game against the Minnesota Lynx, though no incident occurred, a Storm spokesperson confirmed to The Athletic.<\/p>\n
It appears as if the crypto memecoin community, Green Dildo Coin, is behind the latest wave of WNBA incidents. On Tuesday night\u2019s livestream, members acknowledged the communication they have with those throwing the sex toys at WNBA arenas.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just got confirmation L.A. is out of the building,\u201d one member of the stream said around seven minutes after the sex toy landed on the court, indicating the person who threw it fled without being apprehended.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are community members out there putting their f\u2014ing lives on the line, so the least you can do is retweet,\u201d the same member said as the act was beginning to go viral on social media.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe potential tosser (in Seattle), if you will, lost his phone in Lake Washington, so I had to reach out to a friend who was able to get me in contact, and he\u2019s all set now,\u201d another member of the stream said of the potential incident at Tuesday\u2019s Storm game.<\/p>\n
A league source told The Athletic that the WNBA is aware of the Green Dildo Coin\u2019s recent X stream.<\/p>\n
Last week, a 23-year-old Georgia man was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct, public indecency\/indecent exposure and criminal trespass, according to Clayton County\u2019s court system, days after the first of these incidents.<\/p>\n
Messages shared on the stream and in the community\u2019s Telegram chat suggest that those directly involved in the Green Dildo Coin community were not aware of Delbert Carver before his arrest, although members of the community were alerted to watch the Atlanta Dream-Golden State Valkyries game on July 29.<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously, that was not anybody in the community,\u201d said one member on Tuesday\u2019s stream. \u201cI didn\u2019t want to give it any credit, but I was kind of thinking we could go and pay that guy\u2019s bail, and just say, like you know what, we support green dildo throwers.\u201d<\/p>\n
The WNBA said in a statement Saturday that anyone throwing an object onto the court would be immediately ejected, is subject to a one-year ban and could face arrest and prosecution by local authorities.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe safety and well-being of everyone in our arenas is a top priority for our league. Objects of any kind thrown onto the court or in the seating area can pose a safety risk for players, game officials, and fans,\u201d the league said.<\/p>\n
An 18-year-old man, Kaden Lopez, was arrested while at Tuesday\u2019s Mercury game after police said he threw a sex toy toward the seats in front of him, hitting a man and his 9-year-old niece. Sergeant Phil Krynsky, a spokesperson for the Phoenix Police Department, confirmed Lopez\u2019s arrest in a statement to The Athletic.<\/p>\n
The identities of those who originated Green Dildo Coin are unclear, though the domain of the memecoin\u2019s website was registered on July 19, according to Who.Is, an internet domain lookup service. Memecoins, according to Christian Grewell, an expert on blockchain and cryptocurrency technology at New York University, \u201ccost almost nothing to make, essentially they\u2019re free, but they can generate millions in profits within days.\u201d<\/p>\n
The community also has an online storefront, which sells apparel related to the sex toy and memecoin, which was registered on July 7, close to two weeks before the first sex toy was thrown onto a WNBA court.<\/p>\n
Green Dildo Coin launched its account on X on July 28, with its apparent founder, Lt. Daldo Raine, voicing a nearly 15-minute speech \u2014 spoofing the opening speech of Brad Pitt\u2019s character, Lt. Aldo Raine, in Quentin Tarantino\u2019s \u201cInglorious Bastards\u201d \u2014 in which he explains the purpose of the memecoin. The WNBA is not explicitly mentioned in opening comments, though Raine said that \u201cevidence of our cruelty\u201d would be found in the \u201cgiant green, aggressive, and erect candles we leave behind.\u201d<\/p>\n
In multiple livestreams listened to by The Athletic, members routinely voiced crude humor about the WNBA. Jokes were made about WNBA viewership, and memes circulated in the community\u2019s telegram often juxtaposed the sex toy into the hands of WNBA players.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe attention we created for a ($40) dildo and ($140) seats is next level,\u201d said one of the aforementioned members of the community on the stream. \u201cThis is empowering to every f\u2014ing crypto community to start thinking outside the box. Get creative and do something that makes people actually laugh. Memecoins should make you laugh. Memes should make you laugh.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a movement to me to empower the average f\u2014ing teacher. I don\u2019t care if you have 100,000 followers or 10 followers. Your f\u2014ing posts matter, they have the ability to go viral, as long as they\u2019re actually f\u2014ing funny.\u201d<\/p>\n
The incidents appeared to change the trading prices of $DILDO. According to the coingecko cryptocurrency website, it has a trading volume of more than $1.5 million between Wednesday and Thursday afternoon. Polymarket, a cryptocurrency-based prediction model, also took bets on whether disruptions would occur. The site reported that it took in more than $180,000 in volume on whether a sex toy would be thrown at a game by Aug. 10. Users of the platform can also trade on the specific day another sex toy will be thrown on.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe dildo-throwing incidents were essentially an excuse for bad actors to hijack existing negativity and convert it into attention,\u201d Grewell wrote in an email to The Athletic.<\/p>\n
Raine, the spokesperson of the group, told USA Today that the disruption using sex toys at WNBA games is likely done, but that the pranks wouldn\u2019t stop. A photo circulated online, and in the community\u2019s Telegram chat, of a spectator holding a green sex toy at Wednesday night\u2019s Miami Marlins game.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we\u2019re too disruptive for too long, people will get pissed off,\u201d a member said Tuesday on stream. \u201cThe bigger events, we gotta find creative ways to like trick the cameras onto us and then, f\u2014ing bingo.\u201d<\/p>\n
WNBA players and coaches have voiced their displeasure with the incidents and asked for consideration of player safety.<\/p>\n
After the second incident, which occurred in Chicago last Friday, Sky center Elizabeth Williams said it was \u201csuper disrespectful\u201d and \u201creally immature.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s ridiculous, it\u2019s dumb, it\u2019s stupid,\u201d Sparks coach Lynne Roberts said.<\/p>\n
The Athletic\u2019s Matt Moret contributed to this report.<\/p>\n
(Photo of Sophie Cunningham: Sean M. Haffey \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n