Loeffler Asks WNBA Commissioner To Back Down On Black Lives Matter Jerseys, Warmup Shirts

U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler of Georgia, who purchased the Atlanta Dream in 2011, said in her letter to the WNBA commissioner: “The truth is, we need less — not more politics in sports.” A handful of players and the WNBPA, the players’ union, have called on Loeffler to be removed as the Dream’s owner.

Win McNamee / Pool via AP, File

Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler, co-owner of the Atlanta Dream, has asked WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert to back down on the league and its players’ union’s plan to have players wear warmup shirts and jerseys in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.

“The truth is, we need less — not more politics in sports,” said Loeffler in a letter to Engelbert. “In a time when polarizing politics is as divisive as ever, sports has the power to be a unifying antidote.”

Loeffler, who purchased the team in 2011, argued that while “the lives of each and every African American matter,” the political Black Lives Matter movement is “totally misaligned with the values and goals of the WNBA and the Atlanta Dream, where we support tolerance and inclusion.”