Who’s really behind the WNBA’s sex toy interruptions? Dildo-gate uncovered

It started with one during a late-July game in Georgia. Then another appeared in Chicago. Within days, it was Phoenix, Los Angeles, New York. At least six WNBA games in two weeks have been interrupted by neon green sex toys sailing from the stands – sometimes onto the court, sometimes into the crowd.

Coaches and players have called it stupid and dangerous. Two people have already been arrested. One incident in Phoenix reportedly hit a man watching with his 9-year-old niece. Another landed near Indiana Fever forward Sophie Cunningham, who had just days earlier asked fans online to stop throwing things on the floor.

Why are sex toys being thrown into Women’s NBA?

That’s the question security teams, the league office and fans have been asking. At first, it looked like a crude copycat prank. Sex toys have popped up at sporting events before – NFL fans in Buffalo made headlines in 2018 for it – but this time felt coordinated. The objects were always the same color. They often appeared at key moments in games. And they seemed to follow a pattern across cities.

The answer, it turns out, comes from far outside basketball. The green objects aren’t random – they’re part of a calculated stunt by a group of cryptocurrency traders promoting a new meme coin. The group says they picked the color to mimic a “green candle” on trading charts and staged the tosses to grab attention in what they call a fight against “toxic” crypto culture.

I have to say, I don’t buy the idea that this is harmless fun, hence why I’ve not included a link to them. When your marketing involves chucking explicit objects near professional athletes, you’ve crossed into juvenile chaos that risks player (and audience) safety.

But if the goal was simply publicity, they’ve clearly hit the spot.

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