{"id":54954,"date":"2025-08-08T16:57:13","date_gmt":"2025-08-08T16:57:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/54954\/"},"modified":"2025-08-08T16:57:13","modified_gmt":"2025-08-08T16:57:13","slug":"4th-sex-toy-thrown-on-court-during-wnba-game-as-disturbing-trend-continues-national","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/54954\/","title":{"rendered":"4th sex toy thrown on court during WNBA game as disturbing trend continues – National"},"content":{"rendered":"

The WNBA<\/a> continues to deal with a troubling trend: during live games, sex toys are being thrown onto the basketball court.<\/p>\n

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The latest incident happened when a sex toy was thrown onto the court in the last seconds of the Atlanta Dream and Chicago Sky game on Thursday night, marking the fourth time this has happened at a WNBA game in recent weeks.<\/p>\n

Minnesota Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve spoke to reporters about the disturbing trend.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis has been going on for centuries. The sexualization of women. This is the latest version of that and it\u2019s not funny,\u201d Reeve said. \u201cIt should not be the butt of jokes on any radio shows, or in print or any comments. The sexualization of women is what\u2019s used to hold women down and this is no different.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reeve said the people who are throwing the sex toys on the court should \u201cbe held accountable.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe\u2019re not the butt of the joke. They\u2019re the problem and we need to take action,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve pulled reporters aside after today’s availability to make this comment about the recent trend of s*x toys are being thrown on WNBA courts: pic.twitter.com\/oA0nHwluaf<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Shelby Swanson (@shelbymswanson) August 7, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n

Arrests have been made<\/p>\n

Sex toys were also thrown on the court during games in Atlanta on July 29, Chicago on Aug. 1 and Los Angeles on Tuesday. The sex toy that landed on the court in Los Angeles nearly hit Fever guard Sophie Cunningham during Indiana\u2019s game against the Sparks.<\/p>\n

Sex toys were also thrown at games in New York and Phoenix last Tuesday but didn\u2019t reach the court. Police say another toy was thrown at a game in Atlanta on Aug. 1, although it\u2019s unclear if that one reached the court.<\/p>\n

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A man was arrested Saturday in College Park, Ga., after he was accused of throwing a green sex toy onto the court during the Atlanta Dream\u2019s July 29 game with the Golden State Valkyries, according to a police report<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Carver Delbert, 23, was charged with disorderly conduct, public indecency and criminal trespass.<\/p>\n

A security officer saw Delbert recording himself while throwing the sex toy in the middle of the floor one minute before the game was over. He tried to run but was arrested.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis was supposed to be a joke and this joke supposed to go viral,\u201d he told officers, according to arrest documents<\/a>. Records show he was booked into Clayton County Jail at 7:42 p.m. and released late Sunday on an undisclosed bond, according to ESPN<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Another man in Phoenix was arrested after police said he threw a sex toy in the crowd at a Mercury game on Tuesday. Kaden Lopez, 18, pulled the sex toy from his sweater pocket and threw it toward the seats in front of him, striking a man in the back.<\/p>\n

Police said the man was arrested on suspicion of assault, disorderly conduct and publicly displaying explicit sexual material.<\/p>\n

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The incident was caught on video and a witness tackled Lopez and held him on the ground until police arrived, according to court documents<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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The man hit with the toy said he was watching the game with his nine-year-old niece when he felt something hit him in the back of the head and saw it land on the ground next to them. Police said Lopez told them he was \u201cvery sorry\u201d and said he was participating in the vulgar trend.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was just a stupid prank that was trending on social media,\u201d Lopez said, according to court documents.<\/p>\n

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The man hit by the object, the WNBA and the PHX Arena, where the incident took place, wanted to press charges.<\/p>\n

The Maricopa County Attorney\u2019s Office said a Superior Court commissioner found no probable cause for the felony charge of public display of explicit sexual material but is recommending that the other misdemeanour charges be submitted to the city prosecutor.<\/p>\n

Lopez was released on conditions that barred him from returning to the arena and from having contact with the victims. He has a preliminary hearing set for Aug. 25.<\/p>\n

How is it affecting players?<\/p>\n

After the trend began, the WNBA said any spectators throwing objects onto the court will face at least a one-year ban and prosecution from law enforcement.<\/p>\n

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\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 a WNBA spokesperson said Thursday.<\/p>\n

WNBA players across the league have shared their reactions to the trend on social media and during press conferences.<\/p>\n

\u201cARENA SECURITY?! Hello??! Please do better,\u201d New York Liberty forward Isabelle Harrison wrote on X. \u201cIt\u2019s not funny. never was funny. Throwing ANYTHING on the court is so dangerous.\u201d<\/p>\n

ARENA SECURITY?! Hello??! Please do better. It\u2019s not funny. never was funny. Throwing ANYTHING on the court is so dangerous.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Isabelle Harrison (@OMG_itsizzyb) August 2, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s super disrespectful,\u201d Chicago Sky centre Elizabeth Williams said during a press conference. \u201cI don\u2019t really get the point of it. It\u2019s really immature. Whoever is doing it needs to grow up.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201cI mean, first of all, it was super dangerous,\u201d Golden State Valkyries forward Cecilia Zandalasini said during a postgame press conference. \u201cAnd then when we found out what it was, I guess we just started laughing. I\u2019ve never seen anything like that. I\u2019m just glad we worked through that situation. We stayed locked in, we stayed concentrated.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s ridiculous. It\u2019s dumb. It\u2019s stupid,\u201d Los Angeles Sparks coach Lynne Roberts told reporters. \u201cIt\u2019s also dangerous, and players\u2019 safety is No. 1. Respecting the game. All those things. I think it\u2019s really stupid. That\u2019s all I\u2019m going to say.\u201d<\/p>\n

How can arenas help stop the trend?<\/p>\n

The types of sex toys being thrown onto the court generally do not include metal elements, meaning that arena metal detectors are not able to sense them. When carried on a spectator\u2019s body, they become even more difficult to detect.<\/p>\n

Arena security teams face challenges in catching these items, according to Ty Richmond, the president of the event services division at Allied Universal Security, which provides security services to certain NBA, WNBA, NFL, MLB and MLS arenas across the country.<\/p>\n

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\t\u201cNot all stadiums are using a screening process that\u2019s consistent and can detect [the sex toys] because of what it would require \u2014 pat down searches, opening the bags, prohibiting bags,\u201d he told The Associated Press<\/a>. \u201cThe conflict of expediency, of getting fans into the arena and into the venue, which is an important issue, and security and safety.\u201d\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

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The limits of arena security make legal action one of the strongest deterrents for this kind of behaviour, Richmond said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe decision to prosecute and show examples of how people are being handled is very important,\u201d he said. \u201cWithout a doubt, I think it will make a difference. The application of it is important, and publicizing that is important.\u201d<\/p>\n

What is the trend linked to?<\/p>\n

One potential theory behind the trend\u2019s origin is linked to the marketing of a crypto coin, which started trading July 28, the day before the first sex toy was thrown at a WNBA game, according to the New York Times<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A person who uses the name @Daldo_Raine on social media spoke to USA Today Sports<\/a> on condition of anonymity, and said a group of crypto enthusiasts and traders launched a crypto meme coin, titled Green Dildo Coin, as a joke in late July.<\/p>\n

According to the person, the meme coin was created as a form of protest amid an influx of influencers and scammers.<\/p>\n

The crypto group\u2019s spokesperson claimed it\u2019s \u201cnot their intention to harm anyone, and members of the community have been advised to only throw their branded green items if there is a level of personal comfort and the objects can land without hitting someone.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe didn\u2019t do this because like we dislike women\u2019s sports or, like, some of the narratives that are trending right now are ridiculous,\u201d he said. \u201cCreating disruption at games is like, it happens in every single sport, right? We\u2019ve seen it in the NFL, we\u2019ve seen it in hockey, you know . . . fans doing random things to more or less create attention.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe knew that in order to get a voice in the space \u2026 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

The green sex toy is reportedly supposed to mirror a green candle and if the price of the candle goes up, \u201cit represents volatility.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added that the bright colour of the object was intentional to be disruptive and create curiosity.<\/p>\n

The person noted that the two people arrested for throwing the sex toys were not part of their group.<\/p>\n

\u201cMoving forward, we have a lot more pranks, but they\u2019re a lot lighter. They\u2019re a lot more tasteful,\u201d the spokesperson said. \u201cThey\u2019re with a lot of different branded merch, and it\u2019s more or less to keep the [sex toy] being spotted in different places that are high-traffic areas with cameras.\u201d<\/p>\n

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A meme coin is a type of crypto inspired by internet memes or trends \u201cfor which the promoter seeks to attract an enthusiastic online community to purchase the meme coin and engage in its trading,\u201d according to the Securities and Exchange Commission<\/a>.<\/p>\n

According to cryptocurrency website coingecko.com<\/a>, the group\u2019s meme coin has increased in value by nearly 309 per cent in the last seven days and more than 80 per cent in the last 24 hours. It currently has a 24-hour trading volume of more than $1.1 million.<\/p>\n

On Thursday, Donald Trump Jr.<\/a> shared a meme that showed his father, U.S. President Donald Trump<\/a>, throwing a sex toy off the roof of the White House onto a basketball court with women players.<\/p>\n

\u201cPosted without further comment,\u201d he captioned the post, adding three crying laughing emojis.<\/p>\n

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\u2014 With files from The Associated Press<\/p>\n

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