Rumors

The Women's National Basketball Players Association (WNBPA) released a statement on Friday, Aug. 7 denouncing transphobia and other forms of hate amid a surge of political attention toward the league. The message was addressed "to everyone who loves this game," and posted via social media. "The WNBPA represents 200+ individual people with different lived experiences, cultures, lifestyles, and opinions.We embrace justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion," the statement said. "Hate, abuse, and demonization of any person or group of people, including transgender people, only fuel fear, division, and harm. We will continue to have hard conversations. But we will not be used as political pawns. "Support the Players. Support the Fans. At games, notify security if you witness hateful, violent, or abusive behavior. Online, report abusive posts and drown out the bots and bad actors. At home, tell your elected officials to strengthen Title IX."

USA Today Sports

Bay Area News Group does not typically name victims of sexual violence. The woman, Kendall Ware, came forward by name as a plaintiff in the civil case and has spoken extensively about the incident, though this is the first time she is directly naming Lamb as her alleged assailant. The university, its board of trustees and several officials in the Title IX office and athletic department are defendants in the filing, which seeks compensatory damages of an unspecified amount.

San Jose Mercury-News

Ware, a former swimmer at Vermont who had a previous relationship with Lamb, says in the suit that Lamb raped her in the fall of 2019. When Ware reported the incident to the university’s Title IX office, the suit says that school officials improperly contacted the athletic department after she made the allegation. The lawsuit claims the athletic department staffers reached out directly to Ware and misled her in an attempt to prevent a formal process from occurring, instead going to an “informal restitution” process that would allow Lamb, the star player on the men’s basketball team at the time, to “escape any meaningful consequences for his actions.”

San Jose Mercury-News