New on Sports Illustrated: Mystics Guard Natasha Cloud to Forego Season, Work on Social Justice Reform

Cloud: “I have a responsibility to myself, to my community, and to my future children to fight for something that is much bigger than myself.”

Mystics guard Natasha Cloud announced on Monday she will forego the 2020 WNBA season in order to pursue social justice reform.

“I will be foregoing the 2020 WNBA season,” Cloud wrote on Instagram. “There’s a lot of factors that led to this decision, but the biggest being that I am more than an athlete. I have a responsibility to myself, to my community, and to my future children to fight for something that is much bigger than myself and the game of basketball.”

“I will instead, continue the fight on the front lines for social reform, because until black lives matter, all lives can’t matter.”

Cloud is the latest WNBA player to announce she is skipping the 2020 season in favor of social justice work. Dream guard Renee Montgomery announced her decision to forego the 2020 season on June 18, noting, “there’s work to be done off the court in so many areas in our community.”

Cloud participated in a march on Washington alongside Wizards guards Bradley Beal and John Wall on June 19. She has played with the Mystics for all five seasons of her career after being selected in the second round of the 2015 WNBA Draft.

The 2020 WNBA season will resume on July 24. There will be a 22-game regular season, with the playoffs expected to end in October.

Players will be permitted to forego the 2020 season and still receive their full salary.