Some brain-dead fans are throwing adult toys on the court at WNBA games, barely missing players with the hard plastic objects and demeaning all women in the process.
At first, authorities believed it was connected to an internet challenge. But on Friday morning, a cryptocurrency group took responsibility for the stunts.
Players are not amused.
“Everyone’s trying to make sure the W is not a joke and it’s taken seriously, and then that happens,” Sophie Cunningham of the Indiana Fever said on Tuesday. “I’m like, how are we ever going to get taken seriously?”
At the same time that a toy landed at the feet of Cunningham, a group of people during an audio livestream on X celebrated the moment and its potential to boost the value of a certain meme coin that was minted the day before. Since the incident, the coin has tripled in value.
A cryptocurrency group spokesperson took credit for sex toys being thrown onto WNBA courts and said that they are planning more "pranks."
— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) August 8, 2025
Two people have been arrested in connection with the stunts so far and both arrested were not part of the cryptocurrency group.
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“That is literally the best case scenario that we could possibly imagine,” said a participant in the livestream. The thrower targeted Cunningham because she had previously posted a plea for spectators not to throw objects onto the court. The response was a series of memes involving the toy.
The disruption in Los Angeles — as well as others that occurred that evening — appeared to be part of a coordinated effort, borne out of conversations held in some particularly murky, often mysterious corners of internet culture, social media and opportunistic plays in the cryptocurrency markets.
Like many things on the internet, users speaking about the disruptions have often shielded their identities through pseudonyms even as they interact in open forums on X and on the messaging platform Telegram. And the memecoin itself appeared to be one in a long line of novelty digital assets originating from a meme, part of an odd intersection of jokes that turn a gag into something users try to spin into play for money, like Dogecoin or Shiba Inu coin.
One user speaking on an X stream called the attention created by the WNBA disruptions and the resulting chatter “next level.”
There have been at least two arrests arising from the incidents. A College Park, Ga., man was arrested after he was accused of throwing an adult toy onto the court during the Atlanta Dream’s July 29 matchup with the Golden State Valkyries, according to a police report.
He was charged with disorderly conduct, criminal trespassing, as well as public indecency and indecent exposure.
The man told police, "This was supposed to be a joke, and the joke (was) supposed to go viral."
An 18-year-old was arrested in Phoenix after police say he threw a toy into the crowd, striking a spectator in the back. He later told the cops that it was a prank that had been trending on TikTok. The man was arrested on suspicion of assault, disorderly conduct, and publicly displaying explicit sexual material.
Meanwhile, WNBA players fear that their league is becoming a laughingstock. It doesn't help that the incidents are being fueled by cryptocurrency memes.
The WNBA has grown exponentially in the last two seasons — record attendance, climbing television viewership and massive financial investments. The league and its star players are now regarded as mainstream, included in the national sports conversation like never before.
But these women are still the subject of an occasional punchline. While players are negotiating for higher salaries, they’re still fighting for their reputations to be respected as elite professional athletes. They have now had to be graceful and coolly navigate being unfairly thrust into an obscene moment.
“This is empowering to every f***ing crypto community to start thinking outside the box. Get creative and f***ing do something that makes people actually laugh. Memecoins should make you laugh,” one X user said, adding, “The whole mission with this was focus on making an impact in crypto culture.”
The women of the WNBA are not laughing. They're steaming mad. And stadium security, which was considered something of a joke at some venues, will have to step it up before a real tragedy happens and a player gets hurt.
