Dream co-owner Loeffler rejects calls to sell her stake in WNBA team
Despite mounting pressure from active WNBA players, Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler of Georgia will not sell her ownership stake in the Atlanta Dream, she said on Fox News' "The Ingraham Angle" on Wednesday.
Loeffler, who is seeking reelection in November, has been a vocal opponent of the league's support toward the Black Lives Matter movement.
For its 2020 season, which will commence at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida, later this month, the WNBA plans to have the phrase featured as part of its court design. The players' jerseys and warmup gear will also feature similar messaging, as well as the names of female victims of police brutality.
On Tuesday, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Greg Bluestein and Bria Felicien published a letter Loeffler wrote to WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert in which she implored the executive to walk back the league's public support of the movement. Loeffler called the league's initiatives exclusionary and proposed that all jerseys feature the U.S. flag instead.
Following the article, the Women's National Basketball Players Association tweeted "E-N-O-U-G-H! O-U-T!" Shortly after, Engelbert released a statement reaffirming the league's position on the movement and clarifying that Loeffler has not served in a day-to-day role with the Dream since October 2019.
Loeffler purchased her share of the team alongside philanthropist Mary Brock in 2011.