MINNEAPOLIS — The WNBA has seen exponential growth this season. But not all of the attention has been positive.
Liberty star Breanna Stewart’s wife, Marta Xargay Casademont, received an anti-gay threat via a direct email last week.
Stewart confirmed Tuesday her wife and their two children, Ruby and Theo, are doing OK.
“We love that people are engaged in our sport but not to the point where there’s threats or harassment of homophobic comments being made,” Stewart said ahead of Wednesday’s Game 3 of the WNBA Finals against the Lynx. “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.”
Casademont reported the email to the NYPD’s 78th Precinct in Brooklyn on Thursday.
According to police sources, the email read “I hope someone shoots your wife dead, f–k you d—es [sic], I hope you both die,” and it was also from an address that has been associated with other hateful messages and threats.
Stewart said she doesn’t read all of her messages and hasn’t throughout her career to avoid anything negative.
during the WNBA All Star weekend at the Phoenix Convention Center. Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
Nevertheless, this “level of closeness,” she said, to her wife’s email, was a new alarming feeling for the two-time MVP.
Stewart said she has open communication lines within the Liberty of where and when her and her family will be for safety measures. She hopes the league continues to take these issues head on.
“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.”