WARNING: Sexual content
For the second time in just days, a WNBA game ground to halt when an odd object hit the floor.
While Sunday’s game between the Washington Mystics and Phoenix Mercury was temporarily halted after a player’s wig fell off, this time it was an even weirder object that caused the stoppage in play: A sex toy.
During the final minute of Tuesday night’s matchup between the Golden State Valkyries and Atlanta Dream – with the game tied 75-75 – a bright green sex toy appeared to have been thrown from the stands, landing on the floor near the play before bouncing towards the sidelines.
Perhaps the oddest thing about the incident was that the refs didn’t immediately blow the whistle despite the item landing near several players. The officials waited until the ball went out of bounds before stopping play to have it removed.
“Something flies on the court, I think there was something that flew from a fan on the court,” play-by-play announcer Jacob Tobey said during the broadcast.
“This has been one of a kind … can they figure out who did that and get ’em out?” Tobey asked.
“Even so, when you have a lime green item just kind of fly … that’s when the whistle should be blown because as a player you want to feel protected, you want to know what’s going on, and then there’s confusion on the final possession,” fellow announcer Morgan Ragan said.
The game was paused as police and arena security removed the object, wrapping it up in a towel.
“Oh, my gosh, okay, inappropriate,” Ragan said after cameras zoomed in and identified what had been tossed. “Get ’em out of here, whoever it is.”
Some players were seen looking shocked after learning about what had been thrown from the crowd while others were shown sharing laughs.
The incident comes after another bizarre incident during a game on Sunday.
During the third quarter of a game in Washington, Phoenix all-star Kahleah Copper was attempting to get open on an inbound play by running around a screen set by a teammate. But just as she got loose from her defender, her wig came off and hit the floor – much to the bewilderment of players, referees, fans and commentators alike.
Cooper quickly noticed that she had lost the head accessory, scooped it up off the hardwood and retreated to the locker room as a timeout was called.
That wasn’t the end of the rather odd situation, however. Copper’s Mercury teammates noticed that a fan was mocking their colleague and brought it to the attention of officials. The refs then notified arena security about the situation while pointing out the fan in question.