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Breanna Stewart wanted to wait.
After Friday’s practice, with Saturday’s Liberty-Fever tilt already carrying the usual weight of a marquee WNBA game, Stewart was asked about the competing rallies planned outside Barclays Center ahead of tip-off.
“I honestly would love to weigh in tomorrow,” Stewart said.
Saturday morning, she did.
Less than 24 hours later, Stewart gathered with a small group of reporters, including The Post, for an in-depth conversation about the scheduled demonstrations, the WNBA’s approach to transgender inclusion and what she believes the league should protect as its audience continues to grow.
Her central message was less about choosing a side than refusing to let the debate fracture what she views as one of the league’s defining qualities, which is its ability to make people feel they belong.
“The inclusivity [of the league] is the big thing for me,” Stewart said. “I don’t want to turn anyone away at the door because that’s not right either. But I know for a fact that people have safe space here when they come to these games, and that’s something that… is really precious, and you have to hold on to and make sure that doesn’t change.”
Fever star Sophie Cunningham’s comment in an ESPN article published last month, in which she said she wants “to protect … young girls in sport who shouldn’t have to go against biological men,” ignited a firestorm that put the WNBA on center stage of a contentious political debate.
In the subsequent weeks, rallies in support of Cunningham and “protect girls in sport” have been scheduled outside Fever games, including in Seattle, Dallas and Chicago.
Counterprotests supporting transgender inclusion have also been planned.
Outside Barclays Center Saturday is expected to be the next host side of both demonstrations.
“Knowing that rallies are happening on both sides shows the platform that the W has,” Stewart said, “and the stunts for attention are just continuing to try and ride the wave that we have.”
Earlier this month, former NBA players Enes Kanter Freedom and Royce White announced they were planning to enter the 2027 WNBA Draft because the WNBA’s stance on transgender athletes’ participation remains unclear.
The WNBA created an anti-hate task force to address multiple issues facing the league, but it hasn’t established a definitive policy addressing transgender athlete eligibility.
The league issued a statement last week, saying, in part, “There are no immediate eligibility matters affecting the WNBA, and we strongly denounce the bad-faith efforts to use these topics to demean or marginalize others.”
Stewart said the absence of that policy, though, has left room for controversy to fester.
“Of course, if the league kind of had the rules set in place on inclusivity, it would kind of make it a cleaner picture for everyone else,” Stewart said. “With that, I’m definitely deferring to the WNBA and the task force. … Hopefully they were thinking about this beforehand … [and] didn’t come up just now.”
There should be a distinction between league policy and individual belief.
The WNBA has long been far more outspoken compared to other major American professional sports leagues on issues of social justice and equality.
“That’s our superpower,” Stewart said. “The ability to kind of come together.”
Stewart believes that willingness to use its collective voice remains a strength, even as the league attracts new fans who may not share the same politics.
“Everyone is entitled to their own opinion,” Stewart said. “This league is incredibly inclusive, in what we continue to fight for and stand up against. So we don’t want to take that platform away. We just want to make sure that everyone is still educated and knowing that like the things that brought this league together between the fight and the grit and like the camaraderie, we can’t let that take us apart by outside hate.”
Stewart, who identifies as an ally of the transgender community, doesn’t have all the answers, and she didn’t offer a clear-cut resolution to a divisive issue.
She did make it known her desire for the league to preserve room for disagreement without allowing disagreement to become division.
“There’s so many different ways to be,” she said. “And you see there’s so many different personalities and people in our league, and who they love and what they stand for, and all these different types of things. And that doesn’t have to mean that we have to pick one.”
For Stewart, that point is worth protecting as the WNBA enters a new era of visibility.
English (US)