Breanna Stewart held a sign, fans at a women’s hockey game chanted and Steve Kerr appealed to better angels as the sports world reacted Sunday to the fatal shooting of 37-year-old Alex Pretti by federal agents in Minneapolis over the weekend.
Stewart, a two-time WNBA MVP and Unrivaled league co-founder, held an “Abolish ICE” sign during player introductions ahead of her Unrivaled matchup between the Mist and Vinyl on Sunday, then shared why she decided to do so with reporters after the game.
“All day yesterday I was kind of just disgusted,” said Stewart, 31, who is currently a forward for the New York Liberty in the WNBA. “Everything that you see on Instagram and the news, we’re so fueled by hate right now, instead of love. I wanted to kind of have a simple message of ‘abolish ICE.’ Which means … having policies to uplift families and communities instead of fueling fear and violence.”
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
Federal agents have shot three people — Renée Good, a Venezuelan man who has not been named, and Pretti — over the last three weeks as the Trump administration has ramped up immigration enforcement in Minnesota. On Jan. 7, a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent fatally shot Good, 37, sparking protests in Minneapolis and throughout the country.
On Saturday, the Department of Homeland Security said Pretti “approached” Border Patrol officers with a 9 mm semiautomatic handgun, the New York Times reported. Officials did not specify whether Pretti brandished the gun. Pretti can be seen with a phone in one hand in multiple bystander videos of the shooting. None of the videos appear to show him holding a firearm. After a struggle with several agents, he was shot multiple times and died.
Pretti’s death came a day after thousands marched through the city of Minneapolis to protest the administration’s immigration enforcement activities in the region.
Stewart wasn’t the first athlete to comment on Saturday’s fatal shooting. Indiana Pacers star point guard Tyrese Haliburton took to Twitter on Saturday night and stated, “Alex Pretti was murdered.”
Alex Pretti was murdered.
— Tyrese Haliburton (@Hali) January 25, 2026
Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr, speaking before Sunday’s game at the Minnesota Timberwolves, said, “There should be an appeal to our better angels to look after one another and to recognize what’s happening.”
That game had previously been scheduled to be played on Saturday night, but the NBA postponed it to Sunday to “prioritize the safety and security of the Minneapolis community.” The Timberwolves held a moment of silence for Pretti before tipoff, while Wolves broadcaster and Lynx assistant coach Rebekkah Brunson shared her thoughts about the situation in Minneapolis on the FanDuel Sports North broadcast and sent condolences to the families of Pretti and Good.
“Our community is not OK right now, and the things that are happening and what we are having to deal with,” Brunson said. “Watching an administration purge us of our neighbors, going into our stores, and our schools, and our hospitals, and really taking away people that make this community special … it’s unfair, and it’s not right what we see happening around us.”
In a post on social media, former Timberwolves star Karl-Anthony Towns wrote that it was “heartbreaking to witness” what is happening in the city he used to call home.
“These events have cost lives and shaken families — and we must call for accountability, transparency, and protections for all people,” Towns wrote. “This moment demands that we reflect honestly on what our values truly are. My thoughts, prayers, and deepest condolences are with the families of Renée Good and Alex Pretti.”
Detroit Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff, who was an assistant in Minnesota from 2007-11, also shared his thoughts with reporters Sunday.
“I have a bunch of friends that still live there, and they talk about how it doesn’t feel real,” he said. “People are highly emotional. The answers, I think, are kind of cloudy. So it’s disappointing to see it get to the point that it’s at, right? The purpose of all of this stuff we do, and that we’re all in, is humanity and to treat each other a certain way. And when people cross that line, no matter who they are, they should be held to the same standard as everybody else. We’ll see everything that comes out of it, but my heart goes out to people who are losing family members recklessly. To me, that’s what those things appear to be.”
Sentiments were shared elsewhere around the WNBA. Napheesa Collier, a WNBA star and Stewart’s fellow Unrivaled co-founder, reshared a statement on Instagram from former president Barack Obama, who described Pretti’s killing as a “heartbreaking tragedy.”
Indiana Fever forward Brianna Turner posted on X that, “The minority that are still defending ICE will forever be on the wrong side of history.”
Natisha Hiedeman, Collier’s teammate on the Minnesota Lynx and a member of “The Hive” in Unrivaled, posted on Instagram that she is “heartbroken to see ICE has flipped the city upside down and resorted to violence.”
Minnesota Timberwolves guard Jaylen Clark reshared a phone video of the incident that led to Pretti’s shooting, writing, “sick world man.”
The Timberwolves, Minnesota Wild and Minnesota Vikings all signed a public letter on Sunday that called for an “immediate de-escalation of tensions” in their home state. The letter was also signed by top executives from Target, Best Buy, General Mills and dozens of other large Minnesota companies.
Meanwhile, the NBA Players Association released a statement regarding the unrest in Minnesota, vowing that, “Now more than ever, we must defend the right to freedom of speech and stand in solidarity with the people in Minnesota protesting and risking their lives to demand justice.”
Statement from the NBPA and its Executive Committee on the Fatal Shooting in Minneapolis by ICE.
“There comes a time when silence is betrayal” -MLK pic.twitter.com/ka6CjhfHBb
— NBPA (@TheNBPA) January 25, 2026
NBA Hall of Famer Charles Barkley offered his thoughts on “Inside the NBA” on Saturday night. After explaining how ICE’s involvement in Minnesota has already ended in violence multiple times, Barkley said, “somebody has to step up and be adults.”
Former Minnesota forward Kyle Anderson, who currently plays for the Utah Jazz, reposted an illustration of Pretti with the words “Justice for Alex Pretti” on it.
Some sports fans voiced their thoughts as well. Prior to a Minnesota Frost game in the Professional Women’s Hockey League on Sunday in St. Paul, fans chanted “ICE OUT” just before the puck drop. They also had a moment of silence for Pretti. The NHL’s Minnesota Wild did not hold one before its game against the Florida Panthers on Saturday night.
Pretty clear message from @PWHL_Minnesota fans prior to today’s game in St. Paul. pic.twitter.com/0FPLlgG4r7
— Jess Myers (@JessRMyers) January 25, 2026
Pregame moment of silence for Alex Pretti at Grand Casino Arena in St. Paul ahead of today’s New York Sirens vs. Minnesota Frost game. pic.twitter.com/kFqx75srXs
— Heather Rule (@hlrule) January 25, 2026
Frost forward Kelly Pannek delivered an emotional monologue during her team’s postgame news conference Sunday.
“It’s obviously really heavy,” Pannek said after offering condolences to the families of Good and Pretti. “I think people have been asking a lot of us, what it’s like to represent our state and our country, and I think what I’m most proud to represent is the tens of thousands of people that show up on some of the coldest days of the year to stand and fight for what they believe in.
“… It might not really, truly affect them on a personal level, but it affects their neighbors, it affects their communities, it affects our community as a whole. And I think it’s just really important to acknowledge that we’re really lucky to be able to get to play this game, and I’m really happy that people showed up today, and hopefully (we) provided them a couple hours’ worth of joy, community, togetherness. I think it’s just really important for us to acknowledge what’s happening in our community, but also the amount of hope and strength I think that the people of Minnesota are showing in standing up for what’s right amongst the unnecessary and horrifying things that are happening.”
In baseball, Atlanta Braves pitcher Spencer Strider posted to his Instagram story an illustration of Colonial British soldiers shooting citizens in Boston, before also reposting the Obama statement.
