Former Spanish basketball player Marta The threats came from an email sent to Xargay’s personal account.
“I hope someone kills your wife, fuck you.” I hope you both die,” states the anonymous post which is already under investigation by the WNBA and the New York Police Department, where the players filed a formal complaint, which has was reported by the newspaper ‘The New York Post’.
The WNBA star, who met Xargay during his time at Russian Dinamo Kursk, is these days facing the New York Liberty, against the Minnesota Lynx, in the final of the American competition. Stewart’s team won the first game and had a chance to win the second, but Stewart missed the last two free throws of the game, so the series is tied.
“The fact that they accessed Marta’s account forced her to see it,” Stewart said after one of this week’s training sessions, according to the Associated Press. “We made sure we and our children were safe,” Stewart added.
“We are taking the necessary precautions. The threats continued to increase after the first match,” said the American player, considered one of the best in the current league. “We like the public to be more and more addicted to the sport, but not to the point where there are threats and homophobic comments.”
The WNBA broke all attendance records this year, with 48% more spectators compared to the previous season and with 154 games with all tickets sold, or 45 more than in 2023, according to data published by the American League. The audience for matches also exploded on television, with more than 54 million viewers across all broadcasts. The success of the women’s league led the ESPN and CBS networks to repeatedly achieve audience records and NBA TV saw its audience quadruple in one year.
However, the record viewership and attendance at matches were also accompanied by an increase in hate messages against players. WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert reported before Game 1 of the Finals that the American league was receiving increasing reports of threats against players and hateful comments on social media. “We need to continue to call it out, condemn it and make sure we support our players, because they have been dealing with this since before this year,” she said in statements to The Associated Press.
“It feels like women, and especially female athletes, have to constantly fight for our rights and our choices,” Stewart recently denounced in an interview with Relevo. The star of the American women’s league was a three-time world champion with her country (in 2014, 2018 and 2022) and three other Olympic champions (in Rio 2016, Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024). She also won two WNBA leagues, in 2018 and 2020, with the Seattle Storm.
Xargay and Stewart were married in 2020 in Phoenix and have two children. The Spanish athlete, considered one of the best in the history of the women’s basketball team, denounced psychological harassment on the part of Dinamo Kursk coach and now former coach Lucas Mondelo. Xargay retired early in 2021, at the age of 30, a few months after announcing he was temporarily stepping away from the slopes. She had won seven medals with the national team, including three golds as European champion (2013, 2017 and 2019). Moreover, he won an Olympic silver medal in 2016, a world silver medal in 2014 and a bronze medal in the 2018 World Cup and another European bronze medal in 2015.
