MINNEAPOLIS — The WNBA has grown by leaps and bounds this season. But not all the attention was positive.
Marta Zergei Casademont, wife of Liberty star Brianna Stewart, received an anti-gay threat via direct email last week.
Stewart confirmed Tuesday that his wife and two children, Ruby and Theo, are safe.
“I'm happy that people are passionate about our sport, but not to the point where they're being threatened and harassed with homophobic comments,” Stewart said ahead of Wednesday's Game 3 of the WNBA Finals against the Lynx. Ta. “So we're just continuing to let the league know. They're dealing with it, but for me, I don't want anyone to know that bringing this platform into our sport, into the real world, is unacceptable.” I think we just continue to use this platform to make sure we understand.”
Casademont reported the email to the NYPD's 78th Precinct in Brooklyn on Thursday.
“I wish someone would shoot your wife and that's what you did,” the email said, according to police sources. [sic]I wish we both died,” which also came from an address associated with other hateful messages and threats.
Stewart said she doesn't read all her messages and has not avoided negativity throughout her career.
WNBA All-Star weekend at the Phoenix Convention Center. Mark J. Revillas-USA TODAY Sports
Nevertheless, this “level of intimacy” was a new and alarming feeling for the two-time MVP, she told Wife Email.
Stewart said there are open lines of communication within Liberty that let people know where she and her family are at any given time as a safety precaution. She hopes the league continues to address these issues head-on.
“I think so. [WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert] And the league just continues to make sure that we stay ahead of this situation,” Stewart said. “Everything that's happened since Thursday, everyone has really been working hand in hand, in lockstep, thinking about what we should do going forward. But how can we prevent this and what can we do now? If there's a way… Especially this year when it's really starting to happen, we need a little bit of a preseason protocol and things like that.”
