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Breanna Stewart has opened up about her and her wife, Marta Xargay, receiving threatening emails.
The emails were sent to the New York Liberty forward’s wife after Game 1 of the WNBA finals against the Minnesota Lynx.
According to the New York Post, Xargay walked into the NYPD’s 78th Precinct in Brooklyn on Thursday to report the email which read, “I hope someone shoots your wife dead, f*** you d***es [sic], I hope you both die.”
The outlet’s sources say the email address is also associated with other threats including death threats, bomb threats, and racist rhetoric.
Stewart addressed the emails in a press conference on Tuesday, October 15.
“The fact it came to Marta’s email is something she (had to) see. The level of closeness was a little bit different,” she said. “Make sure that myself and Marta are okay, but that our kids are the safest.”
The basketball player notified the rest of the team about the threats and league security were made aware of them.
“We’re taking the proper precautions. I think the threats continue to build after Game 1,” Stewart said. “We love that people are engaged in our sport, but not to the point where there’s threats or harassment or homophobic comments being made.”
She continued: “So, we’re just continuing to let the league know. They’re handling it, but also I think for me, it’s just continuing to use this platform to make sure that everyone knows that it’s unacceptable to bring into our sport and really into the world.”
“We continue to emphasize that there is absolutely no room for hateful or threatening comments made about players, teams, or anyone affiliated with the WNBA. We’re aware of the most recent matter and are working with the league and team security as well as law enforcement on appropriate security measures,” a WNBA spokesperson told the Associated Press about the threats.
Although Stewart mentioned that she normally doesn’t read all of the messages she receives, this “level of closeness” by sending them to her wife’s email address has crossed a line.
“I think that [WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert] and the league can just continue to make sure they’re ahead of this,” Stewart said.
“Everything that’s happened since Thursday, everyone has really kind of walked hand in hand, step in step, with what to do going forward. But, if there is a way to prevent this or just be like ready for action. …There needs to be a little bit of a protocol or like a thing before the season because this year especially is when it’s really starting to happen.”
Engelbert has previously addressed the number of hateful messages the WNBA players have received at her state-of-the-league address before Game 1.
She explained that she would continue to discuss matters with the player’s union to come up with a solution.
“It just is something where we have to continue to be a voice for this, a voice against it, condemning it, and making sure that we find every opportunity to support our players, who have been dealing with this for much longer than this year,” Engelbert said.
The New York Liberty and the Minnesota Lynx are currently tied as they have each won one game in the series and will be playing Game 3 on October 18 at 8pm EDT.
Additional reporting from the Associated Press
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