On this episode of Don’t @ Me with Dan Dakich, we expose ESPN’s broken, narrative-driven coverage of Indiana Fever superstar Caitlin Clark as the fading network hypocritically sabotages the WNBA’s most popular asset.

You don’t see many games swing because of a flying sneaker, but that’s exactly what happened in the WNBA on Sunday.

New York Liberty guard Betnijah Laney-Hamilton was tossed from a tight 93-91 loss to the Toronto Tempo after pegging opponent Marina Mabrey in the back with a stray shoe.

Betnijah Laney-Hamilton throws Jonquel Jones' shoe, accidentally hitting Marina Mabrey during Liberty-Tempo game
A flying sneaker from Betnijah Laney-Hamilton hits Marina Mabrey in weird moment during Liberty-Tempo game. (Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)

 

The flying sneaker couldn’t have come at a worse time, derailing New York’s furious comeback after the Liberty entered the fourth quarter down 16.

The chaos started late in the fourth when Jonquel Jones lost her sneaker. Laney-Hamilton tried to throw it back to her teammate, but it instead smacked an unsuspecting Mabrey in the back.

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Laney-Hamilton had already been mixing it up with Mabrey earlier in the game, including one exchange that earned her a Flagrant 1 foul.

When the shoe struck Mabrey, officials hit Laney-Hamilton with a technical foul and ejected her.

Betnijah Laney-Hamilton throws Jonquel Jones' shoe down the court, accidentally striking Marina Mabrey during Sunday's WNBA game.
An errant sneaker sparked a bizarre ejection of Betnijah Laney-Hamilton, flipping the script on the Liberty’s late rally against Toronto. (Eakin Howard/Getty Images)

 

Laney-Hamilton defended herself after the final buzzer, insisting it was nothing more than a terrible throw.

“I would never intentionally try to hit someone with a shoe, especially while they’re not looking,” Laney-Hamilton said.

“Teammate was without a shoe, so I did my best to try and get it to her. Unfortunately, it did hit someone. I know just by the way that things were going throughout the game that it can look a certain way, but that’s just not something that I would personally do, especially in a moment like that where the game is on the line.”

Betnijah Laney-Hamilton throws Jonquel Jones' sneaker, accidentally hitting Marina Mabrey during the Liberty's loss to the Toronto Tempo.
A flying sneaker sparked Betnijah Laney-Hamilton’s bizarre ejection, crushing the Liberty’s furious comeback against Toronto. (Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)

Mabrey took the high road after the win, laughing off the fact that she got drilled by a flying sneaker.

“I had to take a couple breaths,” Mabrey said. “But I think she was really just trying to get the shoe back to JJ. But I’ll take the free throw. I’m working on not being rage-baited.”

While the players kept it cool, Liberty head coach Chris DeMarco absolutely lost his mind over the game-altering whistle.

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“I’ve never seen anything like that,” DeMarco said. “We had all the momentum in the world. A shoe hit somebody. Ejected, free throws. I’ve also never seen a ref make such an atrocious call when he’s on the other side of the floor. She was trying to get the shoe back to Jones; it hit somebody. I think we’re just making stuff up. I have no idea. You’re asking the wrong person, okay? It was just an atrocious, atrocious end of that game from the officials.”