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 \u201cAbolish ICE\u201d sign during player introductions at Unrivaled on Sunday afternoon in protest.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Stewart said that she was \u201cdisgusted\u201d by the latest incident and wanted to make a statement. She revealed that her feelings were mirrored by those throughout Unrivaled, the women\u2019s three-on-three basketball league she helped found alongside Napheesa Collier in 2025.<\/p>\n
Unrivaled co-founder and WNBA MVP Breanna Stewart held up an \u201cAbolish ICE\u201d sign during player intros ahead of Mist\u2019s game this afternoon.<\/p>\n
Photo via @Unrivaledwbb<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/mK9TDIJ6Ge<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Alexa Philippou (@alexaphilippou) January 25, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cReally all day yesterday, I was just disgusted from everything that you see on Instagram and in the news,\u201d Stewart said on her decision to make a statement, via ESPN<\/a>. \u201cEveryone here [at Unrivaled] is feeling that way, one way or another.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re so fueled by hate right now instead of love, so I wanted to have a simple message of \u2018Abolish ICE,\u2019 which means having policies to uplift families and communities instead of fueling fear and violence,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n Stewart adds that the targeting of immigrants across the country \u201chits home\u201d for her, given that her wife, Marta Xargay Casademont, is a Spanish citizen who is still working to get U.S. citizenship.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s scary. You see it on social media, you see it splitting up families and dissecting communities, and kids are being involved. It\u2019s the worst in all ways,\u201d Stewart said. \u201cAnd to be married to Marta\u2026 we\u2019re working to get her citizenship, and she is a legal permanent resident and all of that. But it seems like it doesn\u2019t matter. And I think that that\u2019s why these policies need to be put in place, that reform needs to happen, because it doesn\u2019t seem to be affecting the right people. It\u2019s not helping anybody.\u201d<\/p>\n The shootings have sparked widespread reactions from across the sports world. Saturday\u2019s NBA game between the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Golden State Warriors was postponed<\/a> until Sunday, and analyst Charles Barkley offered a strong reaction<\/a> to the latest shooting as the Inside the NBA team shared the news. Before Saturday\u2019s Unrivaled games, a moment of silence was held \u201cto take a moment to reflect on the recent tragic events in Minnesota,\u201d the public address announcer said.<\/p>\n Warriors head coach Steve Kerr offered some candid comments<\/a> on Good\u2019s death earlier this month, and he followed that up with some strong words<\/a> on the latest shooting and the state of the media on Sunday. Milwaukee Bucks coach Doc Rivers called Good\u2019s death \u201cstraight-up murder<\/a>.\u201d Stewart thinks this sort of awareness is important.<\/p>\n \u201cI think doing whatever you can to help your community [is important],\u201d Stewart said. \u201cObviously, Minnesota is the place that everyone\u2019s seeing is in crisis, but it\u2019s happening in many more cities than just one, and knowing the right people to reach out to \u2014 your local council person, your mayor, your governor \u2014 and really advocating to change the policies and advocating for reform, knowing that it\u2019s not going to happen overnight.<\/p>\n \u201cBut 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\u2019re trying to make a change and a difference and hopefully save a life.\u201d<\/p>\n 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, \u201cour respective teams [are] supporting us and behind us.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhile we don\u2019t agree on all things, we know that they\u2019re 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,\u201d Stewart said.<\/p>\n \t