WNBA Team Debuts ‘Non-Binary’ Mascot in Game Against Sophie Cunningham

The Toronto Tempo, the WNBA’s new Canadian expansion team, introduced its official mascots at halftime of an Aug. 18 home game against the Indiana Fever.

The pair are Dez, a “Borealis Blue Snapping Turtle” from Muskoka, Ontario, and Dot, an Arctic hare named for Toronto’s nickname, T-Dot. The debut was at Scotiabank Arena.

The team’s site said Dez uses “she/they” pronouns. Dot uses “she/her.”

WNBA team reveals new queer turtle mascot to taunt Indiana Fever star Sophie Cunningham https://t.co/6PMHtlo58K pic.twitter.com/PXopribInP

— New York Post Sports (@nypostsports) August 22, 2026

Dez’s name is a nod to “decibel.” The team describes Dez as calm, clever, a Taurus who spins records, with a secret talent for snapping and a fondness for soft-shell tacos.

Dot is billed as the “undisputed hype woman,” a Gemini whose hobbies are “hops and hype,” with a taste for cotton candy and Drive to Survive.

“Dez and Dot made their debut at Scotiabank Arena and brought two very different kinds of energy – and a shared sense of rhythm – to the court for the first time,” the team said.

Chief Marketing Officer Whitney Bell said the mascots were meant to feel “distinctly Tempo – rooted in who we are as a Canadian team.”

“Dez and Dot have completely different personalities, but they’re better together. One knows when to slow things down, the other knows when to turn the energy all the way up,” Bell said.

The timing drew notice. Fever guard Sophie Cunningham had criticized biological males competing in women’s sports about a month earlier. Social media treated the she/they turtle reveal, on a Fever game night, as a message.

The New York Post Sports account framed it as a “queer turtle mascot” rollout aimed at Cunningham.

Cunningham’s comments were followed by reported harassment and assaults of fans who backed her. In one case, Seattle Storm minority co-owner Celeste Keaton cursed out two young fans who supported Cunningham.

The Tempo presented Dez and Dot as brand identity. Critics saw a league still more interested in pronouns than in the argument Cunningham actually made.