GA Sen. and Atlanta Dream co-owner Kelly Loeffler is under fire by WNBA players for calling ‘Black Lives Matter ‘divisive.’ She asked that ‘BLM’ not appear on jerseys as proposed for the 2020 season

WNBA players are furious with Atlanta Dream co-owner Kelly Loeffler, after the U.S. senator from Georgia wrote a letter to the league commissioner asking that proposed warmup jerseys reading “Black Lives Matter” be replaced with ones showing the American Flag. In a July 7 letter to Commissioner Cathy Engelbert, obtained by the Atlanta Journal Constitution, Kelly wrote, “The truth is, we need less — not more politics in sports. In a time when polarizing politics is as divisive as ever, sports has the power to be a unifying antidote.” She went on to call the Black Lives Matter movement in particular “divisive,” in a tweet from her personal account.

Kelly continued, “And now more than ever, we should be united in our goal to remove politics from sports.” In addition to not having “Black Lives Matter” on warmup jerseys, “Say Her Name” on WNBA apparel is another idea Kelly wants scrapped. She even tweeted, “@WNBA should stand for and unite around the American Flag — not divisive political movements like BLM that unapologetically seek to defund the police.”

Commissioner Engelbert responded to Kelly’s letter by announcing, “The WNBA is based on the principle of equal and fair treatment of all people and we, along with the teams and players, will continue to use our platforms to vigorously advocate for social justice. Sen. Kelly Loeffler has not served as a Governor of the Atlanta Dream since October 2019 and is no longer involved in the day-to-day business of the team.”

Players and fans were incredibly upset with Kelly’s stance. Dream guard Renee Montgomery tweeted, “I’m pretty sad to see that my team ownership is not supportive of the movement and all that it stands for.” Renee had announced on June 18 her intention to skip the 2020 season to focus on racial justice initiatives. She added in her tweet, “I was already sitting out this season and this is an example of why. I would love to have a conversation with you about the matter if you’re down?” while tagging Kelly.

Dear @SenatorLoeffler ….

I’m pretty sad to see

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