Trump Tells Fans to Boycott the WNBA After Both Finals Teams Skip the Anthem Three Straight Games

President Trump told Americans on Thursday night to stop watching the WNBA until its players stay on the court for the national anthem. Both teams in this year's WNBA Finals, the Atlanta Dream and the Golden State Valkyries, have jogged to the locker room right before "The Star-Spangled Banner" at all three games so far, then come back out seconds after it ended.

"Hey, by the way, what's going on with the women's NBA? What's that all about?" Trump asked the crowd at his Sioux City, Iowa, rally (full speech, KTIV). "It's a big deal going on. They leave the court when the national anthem is played. What's that all about? You know, the NFL did that for a while, and they stopped because people stopped watching the games. So, I think you should do the same thing with women's basketball unless they get banned" (transcript).

He also warned the league it was hurting itself just as it was catching on. "They'll destroy themselves before they get started, because they're just starting to do good," he said (transcript).

Three games, three walk-offs

It started at Game 1 in San Francisco on Oct. 17, when both teams headed inside for the anthem, the New York Post reported. They did it again before Game 2 on Oct. 19, when Alanis Morissette sang, per the Post. We covered that here. Wednesday night in Atlanta, with the series moved to State Farm Arena, nothing changed: players "jogged off the court just seconds before the start of the anthem and returned mere moments after it concluded," OutKick's Dan Zaksheske reported from the arena.

The WNBA's own 2026 rulebook says players, coaches and trainers "are to stand and line up in a dignified posture along the sidelines or on the foul line during the playing of the National Anthem." The league quietly suspended that protocol late in 2017 and never brought it back, the Associated Press reported. Not every team takes the out. The AP noted the Indiana Fever and Minnesota Lynx stayed on the floor for the anthem this season.

Atlanta's history here is no secret. In 2020 the Dream put out a team statement saying "the anthem does not represent freedom, justice and liberty for all Americans," the Post noted. The Valkyries told the AP that going inside for the anthem has been their routine since they joined the league last year.

A league that won't answer

Nobody in charge has explained any of it. OutKick asked the WNBA, both teams and the NBA league office, including NBA communications chief Mike Bass, whether discipline was coming or whether the teams had an exemption. None answered, Zaksheske wrote. He raised his hand at 11 straight Finals press sessions to ask about the anthem and wasn't called on once.

At Game 3, the walk-off wasn't the only snub. Two people sitting in a section set aside for WNBA public relations staff stayed in their seats for the whole anthem and gave no explanation when asked, OutKick reported.

The LeBron contrast

The rally line came hours after Trump called LeBron James a "TOTAL DISGRACE" for practicing his golf swing and jump shot during the anthem before the Philadelphia 76ers' opener at Madison Square Garden. James waved it off. "It must be a slow news day at the office," he said, the AP reported.

But that same night, at the Sixers' home opener, James stood with his arms behind his back and his head bowed while Boyz II Men sang the anthem, per the AP. One public callout from the president, and the NBA's biggest name stood still. The WNBA's Finals teams have now had three chances and haven't managed two minutes.

What's at stake

Trump picked his moment. This Finals is the most-watched start in league history: Game 1 averaged 2.1 million viewers on NBC and Peacock, up 11% from last year, NBC Sports said. That's exactly the new, mainstream audience a boycott hits hardest, the same kind of fans who drifted away from the NFL during the kneeling years.

Atlanta leads the series 2-1 after a 26-point Game 3 win led by Angel Reese's 21 points and 12 rebounds, per NBC Sports. Game 4 is Saturday afternoon in Atlanta on NBC. The whole country will be watching to see who's on the court when the anthem starts.