Police are investigating a threatening, homophobic e-mail sent to WNBA power forward Breanna Stewart’s wife as the New York Liberty compete in the finals.
Police did not identify the person who filed the report. They said a 33-year-old woman made an aggravated harassment report Thursday after she received “a threatening email.” Stewart confirmed the threats and said her wife filed the report after practice in an interview Tuesday.
The email said the couple “don’t deserve to live and I hope you both die.”
Stewart, 30, who plays for the New York Liberty, is married to former WNBA player Marta Xargay Casademont, 33, a member of the Spanish national team. They married in July 2021 and share two children.
The New York police Hate Crimes Task Force is investigating the matter as a possible bias incident on the grounds of sexual orientation discrimination. The New York Post was the first to report the threat.
“The fact it came to Marta’s email is something she [had to] see. The level of closeness was a little bit different,” she told reporters, according to The Associated Press. “Make sure that myself and Marta are OK, but that our kids are the safest.”
Stewart said that she reported the threat to the team and the league and that Xargay filed a complaint with police. “Being in the finals and everything like that, it makes sense to file something formal,” she said.
The threat came after the Liberty lost Game 1 of the WNBA Finals against the Minnesota Lynx. Stewart missed a free throw with less than a second left in regulation that would have given the Liberty the lead, and she missed a layup that would have tied the game at the end of overtime.
“Sometimes people are taking things a little bit too far and too out of context. And Marta had gotten homophobic death threats. A few other things have happened,” said Stewart, a two-time MVP. She said they reported the matter to make sure “we’re doing as much as possible to continue to make sure that our team and the league is aware of the situation and continue to keep everybody safe.”
The Liberty and the WNBA did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert also spoke about the rising amount of hateful speech players have received on social media in her address before Game 1.
She said the league will meet with the players association, players and teams to address the matter using technology and prioritizing mental health and reinforcing security.
“First of all, there’s no place in sports for this,” Engelbert said. “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.”
The Liberty and the Lynx face off again for Game 3 on Wednesday night.
