Aces forward suspended for WNBA season opener from 2021 incident

NEW YORK — Crystal Bradford will miss the first game of the Aces’ season due to an incident that took place four years ago, a league spokesperson confirmed to the Review-Journal.

The 31-year-old forward was ruled out on the status report for Saturday’s game at the New York Liberty, which is the first of a season-opening two-game road trip. The Aces will visit the Connecticut Sun on Tuesday.

“She has to serve a one-game suspension and then she’ll be ready to go in Connecticut,” coach Becky Hammon said as Bradford took some shots following a practice Friday at Barclays Center in New York.

In 2021, Bradford, who played for the Atlanta Dream, was seen in video footage shared by then-teammate Courtney Williams that showed both players engaged in a physical altercation with other people near a food truck outside of a club in the Atlanta area.

Although the footage was posted in a YouTube video in October of that year, Williams included time stamps showing that the altercation took place at the start of the WNBA season in May. She made light of the incident and expressed concerns about being jumped.

A day after sharing the video, Williams made a public apology for representing the Dream “in a negative way.” The team also released a statement condemning the behavior in the video as “unacceptable.”

Williams’ agent, Marcus Crenshaw, said in a social media interview at the time that Williams felt comfortable sharing the video because the Dream were made aware of the incident when it took place and didn’t discipline either of the players involved. Bradford was defending Williams in the altercation, Crenshaw said.

A month later, the WNBA announced that both players would be suspended without pay for “the first regular season game that each player is eligible to play following the signing of a new Standard Player Contract.”

Bradford didn’t meet that criteria until this year. She became an unrestricted free agent after the 2021 season, and the Dream parted ways with her and Williams, who now plays for the Minnesota Lynx.

Before the Aces signed Bradford to a training camp contract this year, her most recent appearance in the league was one preseason game with the Phoenix Mercury in 2023.

The Aces took notice as Bradford averaged 16.0 points and 13.0 rebounds in the Athletes Unlimited league this offseason, and she performed well enough in the team’s two preseason games to snag a coveted spot on the opening day roster.

At media day, Bradford said she has taken time “learning how to let things go” and credited the Aces for believing in her.

“I think they just got me. I feel like they did their research on me (and) where I’ve been,” Bradford said. “So it felt like they kind of knew me already and understood my hunger to be here and to win a championship.”

Three-time MVP A’ja Wilson praised Bradford at Friday’s practice.

“She’s our battery,” Wilson said. “She’s someone that’s going to bring energy no matter what. I never know if she’s having a bad day or a good day. And I love those types of people because they’re so consistent in what they bring to our game and to our locker room. I’m appreciative of her.”

Contact Callie Fin at cfin@reviewjournal.com. Follow @CallieJLaw on X.