MINNEAPOLIS (AP) 鈥� New York Liberty and her wife Marta Xargay received threatening homophobic anonymous emails after Game 1 of the WNBA Finals.
The emails went directly to Xargay's account, which was a bit unnerving for the couple, Stewart said at practice on Tuesday.
鈥淭he fact it came to Marta鈥檚 email is something she (had to) see. The level of closeness was a little bit different,鈥� she said. 鈥淢ake sure that myself and Marta are okay, but that our kids are the safest.鈥�
Stewart had a chance to win , but missed one of two free throws with 0.8 seconds left in regulation and then a potential tying layup at the overtime buzzer. Minnesota ended up winning the game and now the series is tied 1-1 heading into Game 3 on Wednesday night in Minnesota.
The two-time MVP said she notified the team about the emails and they escalated it to league security.
鈥淲e'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.鈥�
The New York Post first reported the threats.
Stewart said Xargay filed a complaint with police at the advice of the team and security.
鈥淏eing in the Finals and everything like that it makes sense to file something formal,鈥� Stewart said.
Stewart said she doesn鈥檛 usually look at most of the messages she receives and that they usually go to her agency, but once she was made aware of them by her wife she wanted to let fans know there's no place for it.
鈥淔or me to use this platform to let people know its unacceptable to bring to our sport,鈥� she said.
This season there has been a lot more online threats to players through .
Commissioner Cathy Engelbert of attacks that players have dealt with on social media at her state-of-the league address before Game 1.
She said there鈥檚 no place for it and the league will work with the players鈥� union to figure out what they can do together to combat it. Engelbert mentioned technology and help for mental health.
鈥淚t 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,鈥� Engelbert said.
___
AP WNBA:
Doug Feinberg, The Associated Press
