WNBA All-Stars smash glass to reveal fan tweets about the league's 26 years of shattering expectations

• WNBA stars inspire fans worldwide by breaking boundaries and shattering expectations in the sports world.
• Twitter connected some of those players with their supporters with a special All-Star weekend project.

CHICAGO — WNBA superstars have been breaking barriers for 26 years and counting.

The longest-tenured professional women's sports league in the United States, the WNBA has shattered expectations within the world of sports and inspired millions to defy the societal limits they may be facing in their own lives. And according to Twitter — where much of the discourse surrounding the WNBA lives, as any fan of the league can tell you — a good amount of those individuals drawing inspiration from the league hail from outside the United States.

"What we found is there's a pretty large international following and tweet volume for the WNBA," Kelsey Bowers, a senior manager of US sports partnerships for Twitter, told Insider. "TheWNBA community can be pretty insular at times, so how do we help bring in new fans and make the conversation and experience feel all-inclusive to really bring people in?"

"So that's how we came up with this activation," she added.

In honor of the considerable impact the WNBA has had worldwide, the WNBA teamed up with Twitter to ask fans from around the globe to share their favorite memories of the WNBA and examples of its players shattering expectations.

Then, a few of those tweets found their way to some of this year's All-Stars — who had to smash literal glass in order to access each message.

You read that right, but don't worry — no All-Stars were harmed in the making of this project.

Ahead of Sunday's contest at Chicago's Wintrust Arena, several superstars and influential WNBA figures headed to Twitter Sports' first-ever "demolition room" to wreak havoc and connect with fans from around the world. Tweets originally written in different languages were translated to English, printed on paper, slipped into an envelope, and sandwiched between two panes of sugar glass before the talent arrived for filming.

Once the stars put on their protective gear — including goggles and gloves — they were free to smash the glass to reveal what fans found inspiring about them or the league itself. And after reading the notes from fans, the players and influencers could respond with a message for the cameras.

"We're tying in international audiences of multiple different languages and creating an execution on site with All-Star players and legends and influencers of the community who are talking about the amazing impact that the WNBA has had," Bowers said. "We knew we wanted to continue to talk about social justice and the amazing things that the W has does, so that's how we came up with the breaking [glass] ceilings and shattering expectations idea."

"We wanted to bring in these different international perspectives of what fans think the WNBA has been so incredible at and how they've been shattering these expectations to highlight those on site and share those out on platform once the experiences over," she added.

The final product: more than 20 faces of the WNBA connected with fans tweeting in eight different languages to discuss the brilliance of their league. And here's what it looked like:

Seattle Storm superstar Sue Bird, who is the league's all-time leader in assists, read a tweet translated from Spanish about a fan's favorite memory of the WNBA:

"My favorite memory of @S10Bird is when she got emotional when the audience of #Seattle started the chants of 'One more year!' #MoreThanIncredible"

Here's 2021 WNBA Finals MVP Kahleah Copper responding to a fan from France:

"144 players who stand up together against discrimination and elect a black senator to Congress," Copper read, a reference to the WNBA players' campaigning for Rev. Raphael Warnock, running in Georgia, during the 2020 elections and helping to flip the United States Senate.

First-time All-Star and Atlanta Dream rookie Rhyne Howard read a tweet translated from Tagalog, a language native to the Philippines:

"@WNBA is #MoreThanIncredible because it shows the strength and heart of women who truly inspire more than just the game of basketball! Every game is exciting! #WNBATwitter."

Alyssa Thomas — a star for the Connecticut Sun — read a tweet from a fan in Japan.

"I'm very happy ☺️ Thank you! !! In a tight schedule, I am always energized by the best players. I hope that the match will be held in Japan someday I will continue to support all the players of all the teams! #MoreThanIncredible"

And Thomas' Connecticut teammate, Brionna Jones, read a tweet translated from Georgian:

"The world-class top-level basketball game makes #wnba amazing. #wnba is very important. #MoreThanIncredible"

Several other All-Stars and leaders within the WNBA community participated in the project, but perhaps the most inspirational message out of the "demolition room" came from LaChina Robinson. The ESPN host and basketball analyst read a tweet translated from Spanish:

"For the example they give to the new generations "

Then, Robinson took a moment to agree with the Twitter user who sent in the message.

"You are right, because the WNBA is trailblazing for little girls that want to live their dream of being heroes, role models, amazing professional basketball players, moms, business owners, advocates in the community," Robinson said.

The second half of the 2022 WNBA campaign picks up this week. The regular season comes to an end on August 14, and playoffs begin just a few days thereafter.