Late during the Atlanta Dream’s 111-92 win over the Toronto Tempo, there was an incident involving Angel Reese, Nyara Sabally, and Tempo head coach Sandy Brondello.
Reese had collided with Sabally, making contact with the Tempo forward’s ribs. Sabally was called for a foul, but the Tempo head coach made a controversial remark towards Reese in a moment of frustration.
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WNBA World In Disbelief Over Sandy Brondello Suspension
Brondello could be overheard on the TV mics referring to Reese as a “protected species.” Naturally, that caused a stir. Reese took offense to it, and several others did too, believing it was used as a racial slur.
Now, the WNBA has suspended the coach for one game, and the basketball world is reacting with chaos.
Some argued that Brondello’s usage was not a racial term, suggesting that ‘species’ is a word that people in Australia (Brondello is an Aussie) often use as a broad substitute, but not in a derogatory way.
“The WNBA has somehow managed to exceed even the lowest of expectations. Sandy Brondello apologized for a phrase directed at the officiating… one rooted in Australian sports language and stripped of its cultural context… and the league still suspended her without pay… The WNBA did not protect its credibility today,” one user bluntly remarked.
Another user suggests that if the WNBA determined that Brondello was intending it as a racial slur, then shouldn’t the penalty be stiffer?
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“This is WILD 😂If the league deemed it as actually racist she should be done for the season. 1 game makes no sense. If it’s racist ban her, if it’s not, don’t punish her”
“I’m not sure how to feel about this…I don’t think a suspension is a fair punishment,” another posted.
However, others think the whole situation is nonsense, suggesting that there’s no way Brondello had any ill will toward Reese and that it was simply a figure of speech.
“This is some woke bs. The term she used is a figure of speech, like for favoritism, it’s not racist or said to offend! Not everything is racist like [expletive] is going on in this league it’s a joke.”
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Others believed that Brondello likely didn’t mean anything by it and gave her credit for apologizing for unintentionally ruffling feathers.
“Can we not mutually agree that 1) Sandy Brondello didn’t mean anything offensive with what she said based on the knowledge of where she grew up; and 2) Acknowledge Sandy apologized after realizing her comments landed in a way she didn’t intend. What more was needed? Not this.”
Some also commended Reese and the WNBA as a whole for quickly taking action rather than staying silent on a controversial matter.
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“Good job wnba,” one account remarked.
One user even claimed they knew it would happen, in a way, based on past events where the WNBA took disciplinary action. “I had a feeling this was coming, they did the same thing with Curt Miller and the Liz thing in ‘21,” the user wrote.
Brondello is expected to serve her suspension on Monday against the Las Vegas Aces.
