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Brawl involving WNBA players goes viral, Dream's All-Star Courtney Williams apologizes

The clip showed three current and former Dream players — Courtney Williams, Crystal Bradford, and Kalani Brown — fist-fighting with a group of women

A video has gone viral on the internet that showed several WNBA players involved in fistfighting outside a day club in Atlanta. Reports said the wild brawl happened in May that saw three current and former Dream players — Courtney Williams, Crystal Bradford, and Kalani Brown — fist-fighting with a group of women. Brown was reportedly trying to break up the fight.

The about two-minute-long video gave the impression that Williams — Atlanta's lone All-Star this season — was the center point of the brawl as she was seen throwing a number of punches. But the reason behind the violent fight between the players and random people is not clear. Though some reports said the fight started after someone commented on Williams' girlfriend. The video was posted on Twitter by a user who goes by the name @TweenTween3. The caption of the clip, which has attracted over 100k views, read: “THIS SHIT AINT CUTE, AS THEY THINK IT IS. #FREECHENNEDY.”

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Reports also said that Williams shared the brawl video on YouTube and talked jokingly about the incident. But later, the ex-South Florida star deleted it and tweeted an apology on Monday, October 4, “I want to sincerely apologize for the video posted yesterday. I would never want to represent myself or the organization in a negative way. I’m learning everyday so I ask for grace as I’m growing. Again I apologize to all attached, and I will be better moving forward.”

The Dream also released a statement to The Insider that said, “The behavior in the video is unacceptable and does not align with our values as an organization. We are taking this matter very seriously and working with the league to gather more information and determine next steps.”

Because of her offcourt antics, Williams won’t return to Atlanta next year. The team has also abandoned Bradford. The Fam Sports Agency CEO Marcus Crenshaw — who represents both players — confirmed the news, but also questioned the team’s intention. It has been reported that the Atlanta Dream knew about the fight long before it went viral recently. During an Instagram Live interview with Girls Talk Sports TV's Khristina Williams Tuesday night, October 5, Crenshaw noted, “I spoke to Court [Williams]. She knows like, damn bro, the team didn't even do anything, so I didn't even think — it was a brawl, we got out of it, nothing happened. If the team didn't do anything, she was like, 'Aw man, I didn't think this YouTube video was gonna do anything,’” before adding: “She didn't maliciously put that out there.”

Meanwhile, the fight video, as well as Williams’ apology, attracted a lot of attention from people online. Commenting on the video, a user tweeted, “Bad look for the players, team & league. This is not how to grow the game. Embarrassing.” The second user wrote, “Also This is not her first time of having an alteraction with teammates, she always got her foe traded and suspended she's a tumor for whatever team she's in.” “No they not! Courtney is established, Chennedy hasn’t done squat N the W but been a head case & approach the game like she is a Vet! She will be Lucky if she stays N the league with her bad attitude! They not dealing with bad behavior N the NBA directed at coaches & teammates,” the third one added.

A person slammed Williams for her apology and said, “‘I’m learning everyday’ You're supposed to be learning other shit at 27.  Not the shit your parents taught you when you were 5.” Another one tweeted, “Too late. There's a lot of growing that needs to be done & maybe you're not in the right position to accomplish that growth & maturity. No matter how good you are in the good things that you do you'll always be remembered by the worst thing that you've done. Please prove me wrong.” “Seriously. I am not sure what was done but do you not have some grace. I hope you are not remembered for the worse thing you ever did when all is said done and I pray to My God that his grace and mercy and my true heart is shining thru even when I make a mistake,” a tweet read.