During the second half of the 2021 WNBA season, the New York Liberty repeatedly traveled on charter planes. They skipped long airport lines. They avoided lengthy delays. As a result, they paid a price: $500,000 — a league-record fine for violating the collective bargaining agreement.
Two summers later, the topic of air travel remains at the forefront of WNBA discourse. An incident Saturday involving Brittney Griner has reignited these conversations. Griner and the Phoenix Mercury were traveling on a commercial airline from Dallas to Indiana, via Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, when a man, who the WNBA said in a statement is a “social media figure and provocateur,” approached and shouted insults at Griner. Brianna Turner, Griner’s teammate, recounted the incident Saturday on Twitter, saying her team “nervously huddled in a corner unsure how to move about.” Turner said a day later: “It was obviously very alarming, very startling, to have people waiting at your gate to just totally (disrupt) your day.”
Phoenix Mercury center Brittney Griner, was in an “inappropriate and unfortunate” situation at the Dallas Airport on Saturday.
The WNBA said it is working together with the Mercury and BG’s team to ensure Griner’s safety during her travel:
