Natasha Cloud sat out of the Washington Mystics’ 89-76 comeback win over the Las Vegas Aces Tuesday night. The Mystics point guard was placed in health and safety protocols related to COVID-19.
Prior to the game the outspoken Cloud called out the WNBA for flying teams commercial during the pandemic.
Cloud appears to point to the team flying to Minneapolis over the weekend for the Mystics’ game Sunday against the Minnesota Lynx. Currently there is no federal mask mandate for traveling and the WNBA does not have one for its players.
The WNBA requires teams to fly commercial unlike its NBA brethren who fly charter. The reasoning is due to budgeting. WNBA commissioner recently cited the cost for teams to fly commercial is around $20 million, an amount of money that the league cannot sustain.
In March, the league fined New York Liberty $500,000 and considered removing the team after Liberty owner Joe Tsai chartered flights for the team during the second half of last season.
The good thing is there is no reported symptoms for Cloud. It’s unclear how many more games she will be forced to miss due to the COVID-19 policy.
Cloud had gotten off to a hot start to the season prior to Tuesday’s absence. After the first two games, Cloud is averaging 18.0 points and 6.0 assists. She is shooting 50.0% from the field, including 36.4% from three.
The Mystics are now 3-0 on the season. Beating the Aces without Cloud, has established Washington as a team to watch early on.
