About halfway through the five minute overtime period, a security guard tried to get Kasey and Annie to leave their seats to talk to him. They were unsure why they were specifically being targeted at that moment, so Kasey asked him, “[Is it] about our shirts?”
Then things took an insane turn.
The security guard told them that a fan(s) were offended by their shirts, so they had the choice to wear the provided Atlanta Dream “Wellness & Health Night” shirts, or they would be escorted out of the building. To this, Kasey responded by saying, “Biology and science is offensive?”, before reluctantly agreeing to put the shirts on so they didn’t miss the last two minutes of overtime, where the Indiana Fever eventually secured a 95-91 victory.
With about two and a half minutes left in overtime, the Thomasons are seen on the ESPN broadcast with the tan Dream shirts in hand. They can be seen talking to fans around them, who they said loved their shirts and showed support for them and Cunningham throughout the game. At about 1:30 remaining, both Kasey and Annie had put the shirts on.
According to the State Farm Arena prohibited items list, “Clothing, garments or signs displaying explicit language, profanity or derogatory characterization towards any person(s)” is strictly prohibited. The NBA Fan Code of Conduct states, “Obscene or indecent messages on signs or clothing will not be permitted.”
If State Farm Arena and the Atlanta Dream were really trying to claim the shirts worn by the Thomasons were a “derogatory characterization” or “indecent messages” on clothing, that would be an arbitrary way of enforcing their rules, at best. Discrimination, at the worst. But the fact remains, the security guard didn’t claim any of these things from the prohibited items list or the Fan Code of Conduct. He just said the shirts were “offensive.”
.jpg)
