Atlanta Dream Angel Reese reacted angrily when a neon green sex toy was thrown onto the court during a WNBA game against the Los Angeles Sparks at Crypto.com Arena on Thursday, August 20, 2026, marking a bizarre recurrence of similar projectiles disrupting games last season.
The disruption unfolded with 2:59 remaining in the third quarter as Los Angeles Sparks forward Jihyun Park prepared to shoot free throws. With the Atlanta Dream leading 84-53, a neon green object sailed onto the floor, landing in front of Park and bouncing across the paint near the visiting team’s bench. Sparks center Cameron Brink kicked the projectile away before a security guard retrieved it in a towel, according to Nypost.
While the game ultimately ended in a 124-88 blowout victory that set a franchise scoring record for Atlanta, the immediate aftermath belonged to Reese. The three-time WNBA All-Star sprang up from the scorer’s table and pointed directly at the crowd, demanding swift action from arena personnel.
Angel Reese Points Out Alleged Perpetrator at Crypto.com Arena
Reese made her frustration clear as she looked back toward the Atlanta bench during the stoppage. Video footage captured the forward repeatedly shouting instructions to security personnel as the arena dealt with the unexpected debris.
Lip-readers analyzing the broadcast footage observed Reese yelling at the alleged offender while directing arena staff toward the stands.
Right there! Get him!
Reese shouted from the scorer’s table, while video analysis indicated she also remarked on the size of the projectile, Nypost.
Despite the unusual interruption, Reese delivered a historic performance on the stat sheet. Traded from the Chicago Sky to the Dream in April, she finished the night with 20 points, shooting a perfect 9-of-9 from the field and 2-of-2 from beyond the arc. She added 10 rebounds, eight assists, and three steals, securing her 25th double-double of the season and joining an exclusive club as only the third player in league history to post a 20-point double-double on flawless shooting.
A Disturbing Echo of Last Summer’s WNBA Disruptions
The incident in Los Angeles brings back memories of a strange trend that rattled the league during the previous season. Purple and green sex toys were hurled onto the court during multiple matchups across the league over a three-week span in the summer of 2025.
League fixtures faced similar disruptions on July 29, 2025, when a sex toy landed on the floor during a game between the Dream and the Golden State Valkyries in College Park, Georgia. Just days later on August 1, 2025, another object was thrown during a matchup between the Valkyries and the Chicago Sky at Wintrust Arena.
Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham famously addressed the trend on social media prior to getting struck by a projectile herself during the 2025 season.
Cunningham later acknowledged the unfortunate timing of her remarks after taking a vicious elbow to the face in a separate incident, joking on social media that her warning did NOT age well.
Security crackdowns eventually led to two arrests by August 2025, temporarily halting the behavior before Thursday night’s recurrence in California.
League Security and Legal Consequences Moving Forward
The return of the projectiles raises immediate questions about arena security protocols and spectator screening at WNBA venues.
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