Two 16-year-old girls sat courtside at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle on Tuesday night wearing XX-XY Athletics shirts and holding signs that read "We love you Sophie" and "Thank you Sophie for speaking up for girls." One of them left in tears after a grown woman — a co-owner of the Seattle Storm — got in their faces and called them "f---ing insane."

The grown woman was Celeste Keaton. The girls' crime was supporting Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham.

Keaton, a minority owner of the Storm since 2024, reportedly confronted the two teenagers during the Storm's 105-95 loss to the Fever. According to the girls, who later spoke with Brandi Kruse on the unDivided podcast, Keaton didn't just drop one insult and walk away. She told them, "How dare you come here and pull this s---t," then pivoted to religion — "I hope Jesus can forgive you for what sin you've done" — before circling back to call them "effing insane" while pointing at her head and telling them "God can save you."

"I've never been yelled at like that," one of the girls said. "I thought she was going to be nice, and she started screaming at us, and cussing at us."

The whole thing traces back to an ESPN profile published on July 21, where Cunningham said what apparently no one in professional women's basketball is supposed to say out loud: "I want to protect young girls in a locker room, or young girls in sport who shouldn't have to go against biological men." When reporters followed up the next day, Cunningham didn't flinch. "I said what I said."

The WNBA suspended Keaton from attending the Storm's next five home games and fined her an undisclosed amount. The league announced the discipline on Thursday after the Storm issued an apology on Wednesday. Storm majority owner Ginny Gilder released a statement: "We are aware one of our co-owners made comments to two fans in attendance at last night's game. We apologize that this happened. Everyone who attends a Storm game deserves to feel welcome, and we remain committed to creating an inclusive environment where every fan is treated with respect."

Notice what Gilder's statement doesn't say. It doesn't mention that the fans were minors. It doesn't mention that they were cursed at. It doesn't even mention what the "comments" were. "Comments" — like Keaton offered a mild policy disagreement over nachos. The word "inclusive" is doing a lot of heavy lifting in a statement about a team owner screaming obscenities at children for holding a sign that thanked someone for protecting girls' sports.

Cunningham, for her part, responded on social media: "Truly embarrassing of the co-owner. Unfortunately shows the type of leader she is." She also added, "I truly believe there is a safe space and love for EVERYBODY. Biological girls, biological boys, trans women, and trans men. Everyone is welcome at my table! You can disagree and still be kind."

Activist groups have already tried framing this as Keaton being punished for standing up against "bigotry." Which is an interesting way to describe a grown woman with an ownership stake in a professional sports franchise cornering two 16-year-olds at a basketball game to scream profanities and invoke divine judgment because they wore the wrong T-shirt.

Five home games. That's the price tag for verbally attacking minors at your own arena. Keaton joined the Storm's ownership group alongside Hall of Famer Sue Bird in 2024 and stayed largely behind the scenes until she decided two teenagers with polite signs needed to hear the word she thought of them.

The WNBA has spent years telling America it stands for empowering women and girls. One of its team owners just showed what that looks like when the girls hold the wrong sign.