What seemingly started as a gag at a WNBA game has taken on new meaning as two men were arrested for throwing sex toys onto the court. A bizarre trend started on July 29 when a lime green dildo was thrown onto the court at a game between the Valkyries and the Atlanta Dream, but since then, it has happened three more times. Fans and players alike laughed the first time a sex toy landed in the middle of a game, but then players started speaking out about how disrespectful and dangerous the act is.Since then, two men have been arrested in connection with the incidents. Delbert Carver, 23, was arrested in College Park, Georgia, on August 2 for disorderly conduct, public indecency/indecent exposure, and criminal trespass after allegedly throwing the first sex toy onto the court in Atlanta.Kaden Lopez, 18, was also arrested while at a Phoenix Mercury game after he was accused by police of hitting a man and his niece with a dildo he threw into the seats in front of him.Lopez reportedly apologized and told police that he bought the sex toy specifically for the game and that it was a "stupid prank that was trending on social media.While no arrests have been made yet in the other two incidents, authorities believe they were both the work of different people.This means that at four different WNBA games, women who were trying to do their job were subjected to having sex toys thrown in their direction. While people on the internet may have been content to create memes and make jokes about the incidents when they first started, now that two men have been arrested, it no longer feels like a laughing matter.The league is taking a hardline stance against future copycats. In line with WNBA Arena Security Standards, any fan who intentionally throws an object onto the court will be immediately ejected and face a minimum one-year ban in addition to being subject to arrest and prosecution by local authorities, a WNBA spokesperson told CNN.Players have also spoken out against the acts, making it clear that they dont appreciate them or find them funny. Its super disrespectful, Chicago Sky center Elizabeth Williams told reporters after the second time a sex toy was thrown onto the court. I dont really get the point of it. Its really immature. Whoevers doing it just needs to grow up.ARENA SECURITY?! Hello??! New York Liberty forward Isabelle Harrison wrote on X (formerly Twitter). Please do better. Its not funny. never was funny. Throwing ANYTHING on the court is so dangerous.The WNBA has experienced a surge in popularity in recent years. 2024 was the leagues most-watched season with its highest attendance in 22 years and an all-time record of more than 54 million unique viewers across networks. This year is on track to do even better with players rising in popularity and increased media coverageYet the female athletes are still having to fight for fair compensation and revenue sharing, even going so far as to protest their lower wages at the All-Star game by wearing T-shirts that read, Pay Us What You Owe Us.Throwing sex toys at female athletes when the games are intense and physically challenging, and the level of talent is high, points to a larger problem American society has with respecting women.Male athletes get objects thrown at them, too. Philadelphia Eagles fans have a penchant for throwing batteries at games, bottles and other trash have been thrown onto college football and NFL fields, and Florida Panthers fans frequently toss plastic rats onto the ice.None of those objects has a sexual connotation, and the stakes are undeniably different for female athletes who have to fight tooth and nail for respect and fair wages. At any other workplace, this would be seen as sexual harassment."It's ridiculous. It's dumb. It's stupid," Los Angeles Sparks coach Lynne Roberts said after the game, where a sex toy nearly hit Indiana Fever star Sophie Cunningham. "It's also dangerous, and you know, player safety is No. 1, respecting the game, all those things."