𝐁𝐎𝐓𝐇 𝐖𝐍𝐁𝐀 𝐅𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐋𝐒 𝐓𝐄𝐀𝐌𝐒 𝐋𝐄𝐅𝐓 𝐃𝐔𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐀𝐍𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐌 — 𝐑𝐔𝐋𝐄𝐁𝐎𝐎𝐊 𝐒𝐀𝐘𝐒 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐍𝐃, 𝐍𝐎𝐁𝐎𝐃𝐘 𝐄𝐍𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐂𝐄𝐒 𝐈𝐓 Fox News panelists tore into the WNBA this week over a practice that surfaced again on the sport's biggest stage. Before Game 1 of the Finals in San Francisco on October 17, both the Atlanta Dream and the Golden State Valkyries headed to their locker rooms as Goapele began singing the national anthem, according to multiple outlets. Neither team returned until the song was over. The players walked back onto the floor almost immediately afterward, and the game tipped off as if nothing had happened. The segment's point was that this is no one-off. As the Fox host put it: “𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘨𝘶𝘦'𝘴 𝘳𝘶𝘭𝘦𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘴𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘳𝘴, 𝘤𝘰𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘴, 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘶𝘱 𝘥𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘯𝘰 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘵.” League guidance calls for standing “𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐝𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐫 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐥 𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞” while the anthem plays. Neither team nor the league has explained the move. OutKick reported that it asked the league and both teams for comment and none answered, and there has been no word on any discipline. Reports say the Dream have stayed in the locker room for the anthem earlier this season too, and the Sun and Liberty have done the same. The Fox host asked the question millions of fans are asking: “𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘥𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘺?” The league wrote a rule requiring respect for the flag, and it has 𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐧 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐭 on its championship stage. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐖𝐍𝐁𝐀 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦. 𝐈𝐭 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬𝐧'𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐭.