Angel Reese accepts Brondello’s apology after ‘protected species’ comment lands ban

Angel Reese has accepted Toronto Tempo coach Sandy Brondello’s apology for an inappropriate comment about the Atlanta Dream star.

The WNBA suspended Brondello one game for being overheard calling Reese a “protected species” during the Dream’s win over the Tempo on Friday.

“First, I appreciate Sandy’s apology, but I also appreciate the love and support that I’ve had for the last 48 hours,” Reese said before the Dream played the Chicago Sky on Sunday. “It has been very overwhelming with a lot of love and also other things. But I am grateful that the league did take action.

“There is no place for discrimination or hate in this league from anyone – from fans to coaches to players. And I’m just grateful that we are able to move on from the situation and just play winning basketball. The WNBA is supposed to be positive and we are going in a great light right now, so I just want to continue that and move forward.”

Brondello’s comment about Reese was picked up by the broadcast after Toronto player Nyara Sabally went down with an injury and was called for a foul following contact with Reese.

Brondello apologized on social media and Reese posted “ARE WE SURPRISED?!” after the game, tagging Brondello’s account, followed by a clown face emoji.

Brondello, who is in her first season with the expansion Tempo, is Australian. The “protected species” phrase is used in Australian sports to express frustration for a lack of calls against a player. However, in the US the phrase suggests that someone isn’t human and could be seen as derogatory toward Black people.

“Have a ton of respect for her, but I wanted to make sure that [she knows] it was an emotional statement,” Brondello said on Sunday. “It’s a statement that’s very common in Australia, it wasn’t directed at Angel. I’d never do that to any kind of player. That’s not the kind of coach I am or player back in my day. It was just unfortunate. I was pretty emotional with Nyara, her being injured again. I made a comment that, Australians, we say all the time.

“Unfortunately, I should have took a breath and realized where I am in America because I know racism is such a big issue here. I’ve been in this league for 27 years and, obviously, I never had any issues like this because these are all my teammates and I’ve learnt so much from the Black players that I’ve coached and that I’ve had on staff.”