A second individual has been arrested for throwing a sex toy during a WNBA game.
Kaden Lopez, 18, was arrested Tuesday night for throwing a dildo during a Phoenix Mercury game that same evening. The projectile didn’t reach the court, but hit a man and his 9-year-old niece instead. His arrest follows that of Delbert Carver, 23, who officials said threw a dildo onto the court during an Atlanta Dream game the week before.
The WNBA has had several incidents of green dildos being thrown at recent games, starting July 29 with the incident in Georgia when it landed on the court. Another sex toy hit the court in Chicago on Friday, and in Los Angeles on Tuesday, someone threw a dildo at Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham, which appeared to hit her ankle. Also in New York on Tuesday, a spectator threw a dildo, but it didn’t reach the court.
“It’s ridiculous, it’s dumb, it’s stupid,” Sparks coach Lynne Roberts said postgame. “It’s also dangerous. Player safety is number one, respecting the game, all those things. I think it’s really stupid.”
The crypto predictions market Polymarket, which is banned in the U.S., has capitalized on the trend, allowing users to bet on whether a sex toy will be thrown and what color it might be. The company’s social media account has celebrated individual users who have seen big returns on WNBA dildo bets. (Polymarket also posted that the WNBA had changed its bag policy ahead of Wednesday night’s Golden State Valkyries game, which the team told Front Office Sports was not true.)
According to court documents obtained by FOS, Lopez said he was “very sorry” for following the “stupid prank that was trending on social media.”
The documents say Lopez was caught on video taking the green dildo from his sweater pocket, throwing it, and then leaving the area, after which he was tackled by an arena volunteer who waited for police to arrive.
Lopez said he bought the sex toy the day before to bring to the game and hadn’t meant to hit anyone, the documents state. He was booked in jail on counts of disorderly conduct, assault, and public display of explicit sexual material, and a judge said he will need a court-appointed attorney. His next hearing is scheduled for later this month.
