WNBA Suspends Brondello 1 Game for Reese Comment
Get the Sports newsletter
Daily sports — scores, transfers, the storylines from the leagues you actually follow. Free.
- WNBA suspended Toronto Tempo coach Sandy Brondello for one game without pay for "an inappropriate comment she made regarding Angel Reese of the Atlanta Dream."
- The comment surfaced during the Dream's 111-92 win, where broadcast audio caught Brondello addressing officials after Nyara Sabally went down with an injury on contact with Reese — Brondello referred to Reese with what sounded like "protected species."
- Angel Reese responded on social media: "ARE WE SURPRISED?! @SBrondello" with a clown face emoji.
- Multiple native Australians told ESPN "protected species" is common Australian sports shorthand for frustration over officiating; in American culture, the dehumanizing phrasing carries a derogatory history toward Black people.
- Brondello issued a public apology, taking "full responsibility" and saying her words "carried an impact beyond what I intended, particularly for Black women in our league."
- Brondello will serve the suspension Monday when Toronto hosts the Las Vegas Aces, and a person with knowledge told ESPN the incident will be discussed at a previously scheduled meeting between players and commissioner Cathy Engelbert next week.
Why it matters: The suspension lands alongside ongoing online vitriol directed at Angel Reese and hands players a concrete agenda item for next week's meeting with commissioner Cathy Engelbert. The cultural collision — Brondello's Australian sports shorthand versus the phrase's racial weight in American basketball — puts the WNBA's officiating frustrations and its racial climate into the same frame.
