Stewart’s comeback included a week of training at UConn
UConn associate head coach Chris Dailey was one of the first to get a behindthe-scenes look at Breanna Stewart’s comeback tour.
The Husky legend returned to her alma mater for about a week in November during the start of the college basketball season. Stewart, who was seven months removed from surgery to repair a ruptured right Achilles tendon, made herself at home around the team’s facilities.
“She came in the building by 9 (a.m.) and she didn’t leave until 6 (p.m.),” Dailey recalled. “In that time, she was doing a lot of things. She was doing workouts, she was in the weight room, she was doing stuff with our trainer.
“She rested, she took time to eat, but she was doing something meaningful the majority of the day. She had a sense of what she wanted to get done and where she wanted to be.”
Stewart, it turns out, never really lost sight of that purpose.
The Seattle Storm star completed her remarkable comeback by winning her second WNBA title and second Finals MVP award Tuesday night. She scored
26 points in the seriesclinching 92-59 victory over the Las Vegas Aces at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla.
Stewart, who turned 26 in August, averaged 19.7 points, 8.3 rebounds and 3.6 assists across 30.4 minutes per game during the regular season. She was even better in the postseason, averaging
25.7 points, including a scintillating 37-point, 15rebound performance in Game 1 of the Finals.
“I didn’t know what was going to happen after rupturing my Achilles,” Stewart said. “You see all the worst things. You see all the worst things and then I wasn’t sure if I was ever going to be back to where I was. But to be here and see myself playing like this and having so much potential going forward, it’s exciting but also really appreciating what we were able to do this year.”
It was April 2019 when Stewart landed awkwardly while attempting a jumper and crumpled to the court in a EuroLeague game in Hungary. Stewart immediately grabbed her lower right leg in obvious pain. Upon returning to Los Angeles, she underwent an MRI that confirmed her worst fears.
Stewart’s mother, Heather, was watching on TV as the injury occurred.
“It was devastating. She had a couple days where she was down in the dumps,” Heather said in a phone interview this week. “She then said, ‘This is my goal, this is what I want to do.’
She worked out and rehabbed every day until she got to where she is today.
“I think that type of experience will teach anyone a lot about themselves and what they can withstand. It’s a lot of adversity, personal adversity.”
Stewart’s career was halted at a time when she was seemingly at the top of her game. She had just won her first WNBA regular season and Finals MVP.
Stewart wasn’t sure how she would respond. During her rehab she consulted with NBA star Kevin Durant, who was recovering from the same injury.
“It was tough,” Heather said. “Anybody with that type of injury, they have so much appreciation for what someone else goes through.”
Stewart returned to the court in January for an exhibition with the U.S. national team. It was against UConn, of all teams. Stewart, a four-time NCAA champion with the Huskies, sank her first shot, a 3pointer from the wing, but showed obvious signs of rust over 17 minutes of action.
She also showed glimpses of the Stewart of old.
“Had I not seen her work out in November, I might’ve been surprised,” Dailey said of Stewart’s ability to come back. “It’s a process and it was a process, but this is how you know you’re talking about a great player because she makes everything look easy. She makes the easy things look really easy and she makes the hard things look easy. She knocks in a 3 like it’s nothing. That’s her.”
That, indeed, is Stewart. But she’s also about more than just basketball. Stewart was among the WNBA’s most vocal players to speak on social justice issues, including racial inequality.
“I was super proud of her,” Heather said. “As a mom, whenever you see your kids accomplish something you’re going to be so proud of them. I was in awe of her.”