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Liberty star Breanna Stewart loves a good rivalry.
Who doesn’t?
She made her allegiance in the Subway Series clear Sunday when the New York native threw out the first pitch in The Bronx wearing a personalized Yankees jersey.
But hours before she took the mound with her teammates standing behind her, the WNBA announced it was investigating alleged racist comments from a fan or multiple fans directed toward Angel Reese during the Sky’s game against the Fever on Saturday.
The league also reiterated its hard stance against racism, hate and discrimination in any form.
Details of the incident remain vague, and it’s unclear when the alleged comments were made.
But tensions did flare between Clark and Reese in the third quarter of the Fever’s 93-58 win at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis when Clark committed a hard foul on Reese to prevent her from an open layup.
Reese tumbled to the court following the foul, but she quickly jumped back up and headed toward Clark.
Teammates stepped in to prevent the scuffle from escalating, while Clark, who received a flagrant foul, headed back toward the Fever bench.
Reese and Indiana’s Aliyah Boston received technical fouls.
Reese was also subjected to boos by fans throughout the game.
Stewart said she was aware of the WNBA’s investigation, but doesn’t know all the details of the incident. She said rivalries are meant to be a fun part of sport.
“There comes a line and as athletes and as fans, we have to make sure we continue to respect the space of one another so we can all be our best thing ever,” Stewart said.
Rivalries are the backbone of sports.
Some are birthed by geographical locations. Others — like the Liberty and Aces — are formed over the course of time or stem from heated playoff series. They’re meant to be fun and drum up excitement.
Sometimes, though, fans overstep and those rivalries turn vile and hateful.
If the allegations the WNBA are investigating are found to be true, this will mark a dark chapter of the Clark-Reese rivalry, which started when the two played one another in an NCAA Tournament championship game in college.
Stewart believes healthy rivalries are good for sport.
She referenced Yankees fans turning their backs to Juan Soto during the ongoing series against the Mets along with Liberty fans booing the Aces in Saturday’s season opener.
She knows Aces fans will return the favor later this season, when the Liberty travel to Las Vegas.
“That’s the luxury of the sports,” Stewart said. “That’s what sports is all about is having passionate fans behind you like we do at Liberty games, like they do here for the Yankees.”
