Players in WNBA Finals tuning out President Trump, other outside noise, say their focus on the games

ATLANTA (AP) — Players in the WNBA Finals say they are concentrating on preparing for the upcoming game and not President Donald Trump’s criticism of them and others in the league for leaving the court prior to the national anthem being played.

“I’m focused on the finals," Atlanta guard Allisha Gray said Friday at the Dream's practice ahead of Saturday's Game 4. ”I am not really on social media and listening to what people are saying."

Basketball has recently been a focus of the president.

Trump spoke at a rally on Thursday in Iowa and criticized WNBA players for leaving the court before the national anthem is played, and called for a boycott of the league. He had lashed out on social media at the WNBA, along with NBA icon LeBron James for his actions during the anthem, but also called for fans to not watch the WNBA.

Several of Gray's Atlanta teammates and Golden State players shared her sentiments, saying they were tuning out anything that didn't have to do with game preparations.

“For me it's staying off social media. It's just going inward with our teammates and staff,” Valkyries forward Kiah Stokes said. “Staying together. That's been one of our keys all season.”

Trump mentioned at the Iowa rally that WNBA players have been leaving the court before the national anthem is played. Leaving the court before the anthem is not a recent development in the WNBA. It has been part of many teams' pregame routine for years, dating back to at least when the league played the entire 2020 season in Florida because of the coronavirus pandemic.

“By the way, what’s going on with the women’s NBA? What’s that all about?" the president said at the rally. “You know, they’ll destroy themselves before they get started, because they just started to do good.”

Trump went on to say that fans should stop viewing WNBA games because the players don't stay for the anthem. which is played 10 minutes before the end of pregame warmups. Teams have left the court to raise awareness for social justice issues or simply to continue to prepare for the game.

“You know the NFL did that for a while and they stopped because people stopped watching the games,” Trump said. “I think you should do the same thing with women’s basketball.”

The WNBA had no comment on Trump's speech.

As for James, a four-time Olympic medalist, the president said the 76ers forward disrespected the United States after he appeared to continue his warmups while the national anthem was performed before Philadelphia’s season opener on Tuesday.

See AP’s full WNBA coverage here