Two days after Isiah Thomas was named the president of the Liberty and given part ownership of the W.N.B.A. team, the Seattle Storm issued a statement expressing concern over the development and implying that they might vote not to approve Thomas’s ownership stake.
In 2007, a federal jury in Manhattan found that Thomas had sexually discriminated against Anucha Browne, a former Knicks executive, while Thomas was president and coach of the Knicks. Both the Knicks and the Liberty are owned by Madison Square Garden.
In the statement released Thursday by the Storm’s ownership group, Force 10 Hoops, which is led by the local businesswomen Dawn Trudeau, Lisa Brummel and Ginny Gilder, the team emphasized its duty to protect the league’s values in addressing “sexual harassment, domestic violence and sexual assault, all of which have been inadequately addressed for far too long.