A day after federally appointed officers shot and killed 37-year-old Alex Jeffrey Pretti in Minneapolis, Unrivaled co-founder and two-time WNBA MVP Breanna Stewart held up an “Abolish ICE” sign during player introductions at Unrivaled on Sunday afternoon in protest.
The fatal shooting on Saturday marked the second time in a month that a federally appointed officer shot and killed an American citizen in the city. In early January, an ICE agent shot and killed Renee Nicole Good as she was driving away in her car.
Stewart said that she was “disgusted” by the latest incident and wanted to make a statement. She revealed that her feelings were mirrored by those throughout Unrivaled, the women’s three-on-three basketball league she helped found alongside Napheesa Collier in 2025.
Unrivaled co-founder and WNBA MVP Breanna Stewart held up an “Abolish ICE” sign during player intros ahead of Mist’s game this afternoon.
Photo via @Unrivaledwbb pic.twitter.com/mK9TDIJ6Ge
— Alexa Philippou (@alexaphilippou) January 25, 2026
“Really all day yesterday, I was just disgusted from everything that you see on Instagram and in the news,” Stewart said on her decision to make a statement, via ESPN. “Everyone here [at Unrivaled] is feeling that way, one way or another.”
“We’re so fueled by hate right now instead of love, so I wanted to have a simple message of ‘Abolish ICE,’ which means having policies to uplift families and communities instead of fueling fear and violence,” she added.
Stewart adds that the targeting of immigrants across the country “hits home” for her, given that her wife, Marta Xargay Casademont, is a Spanish citizen who is still working to get U.S. citizenship.
“It’s scary. You see it on social media, you see it splitting up families and dissecting communities, and kids are being involved. It’s the worst in all ways,” Stewart said. “And to be married to Marta… we’re working to get her citizenship, and she is a legal permanent resident and all of that. But it seems like it doesn’t matter. And I think that that’s why these policies need to be put in place, that reform needs to happen, because it doesn’t seem to be affecting the right people. It’s not helping anybody.”
The shootings have sparked widespread reactions from across the sports world. Saturday’s NBA game between the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Golden State Warriors was postponed until Sunday, and analyst Charles Barkley offered a strong reaction to the latest shooting as the Inside the NBA team shared the news. Before Saturday’s Unrivaled games, a moment of silence was held “to take a moment to reflect on the recent tragic events in Minnesota,” the public address announcer said.
Warriors head coach Steve Kerr offered some candid comments on Good’s death earlier this month, and he followed that up with some strong words on the latest shooting and the state of the media on Sunday. Milwaukee Bucks coach Doc Rivers called Good’s death “straight-up murder.” Stewart thinks this sort of awareness is important.
“I think doing whatever you can to help your community [is important],” Stewart said. “Obviously, Minnesota is the place that everyone’s seeing is in crisis, but it’s happening in many more cities than just one, and knowing the right people to reach out to — your local council person, your mayor, your governor — and really advocating to change the policies and advocating for reform, knowing that it’s not going to happen overnight.
“But how many times do we have to see it happen over and over and over again and using our platform to make sure that we’re trying to make a change and a difference and hopefully save a life.”
WNBA players have never been shy about embracing activism, and Stewart said that even though the players and the league are currently at odds negotiating a new collective bargaining agreement, “our respective teams [are] supporting us and behind us.”
“While we don’t agree on all things, we know that they’re supporting our platform that we have, and we continue to fight in all the ways we can until we do come to a final agreement,” Stewart said.