The Mercury News

Stewart ends free agency, will join New York Liberty

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Breanna Stewart couldn't turn down a chance to play in New York and potentiall­y help the Liberty win their first WNBA championsh­ip.

The most coveted free agent this offseason, who won the WNBA MVP award in 2018, announced on social media that she was going to New York with a photo of her in a Liberty shirt on Wednesday. Stewart had spent her entire career in Seattle since the Storm drafted her No. 1 overall in 2016. She won two championsh­ips with the team in 2018 and 2020.

“I decided to go to New York as I wanted to continue to be great. And I wanted to go to the place where I think I can help this league become better, to raise the standard,” Stewart said in an interview on ESPN. “I feel like why not go to the biggest market in all of sports. I'm excited to go after their first championsh­ip.”

The 28-year-old wing has averaged 20.3 points and 8.6 rebounds in her WNBA career. She missed the 2019 season with an Achilles injury.

“New York is a basketball city and I can't wait to be a part of it,” Stewart said.

By coming to New York it brings Stewart closer to home. She grew up in Syracuse which is an hour flight from New York. It also is an easier flight to Spain to see her wife Marta's family.

Tennis DJOKOVIC HAD HAMSTRING TEAR >>

Australian Open tournament director Craig Tiley said Novak Djokovic played at the Grand Slam event with a muscle tear of 3 centimeter­s — a little more than an inch — in his left hamstring along the way to winning the championsh­ip.

“He gets a bad rap, but at the end of the day, I don't think anyone can question his athleticis­m. This guy, I did see, he had a 3-centimeter tear in his hammy,” Tiley said Wednesday in an interview with SEN Sportsday.

“It's hard to believe that someone can do what they do with those types of injuries. But he's remarkable.”

Djokovic won the trophy at Melbourne Park last week by beating Stefanos Tsitsipas in straight sets for a record-extending 10th title there and record-tying 22nd Grand Slam trophy overall.

MLB

A'S BRASS IN LAS VEGAS >> Oakland A's owner John Fisher and team president Dave Kaval were in Las Vegas on Wednesday to continue discussion­s on a potential relocation to the valley, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported.

Fisher and Kaval, who have made several trips to Las Vegas, were there to meet with various resort operators on the north side of the Las Vegas Strip, a source said to the paper.

The A's, per the Review-Journal, are looking at two potential Las Vegas sites — the festival grounds on the north Strip and the Tropicana Hotal and Casino to the south — where a $1 billion stadium with a seating capacity of roughly 35,000 would be built.

ARRAEZ, MARLINS GO TO ARBITRATIO­N >> American League batting champion Luis Arraez went to a salary arbitratio­n hearing Wednesday against the Miami Marlins, who acquired the infielder from the Minnesota Twins last month. Arraez asked for a raise from $2.2 million to $6.1 million, and the Marlins argued for $5 million. The case was heard by John Stout, Mark Burstein and Scott Buchheit, who are expected to issue a decision today.

JUSTICE DEPARTMENT ON ANTITRUST EXEMPTION >> The U.S. Justice Department asked a federal appeals court to narrowly consider MLB's antitrust exemption, a filing made in a case involving four eliminated minor league teams hoping to end the sport's century-old legal protection.

MLB cut the minimum guaranteed minor league affiliatio­n agreements from 160 to 120 in September 2020 and took over running the minors from the National Associatio­n of Profession­al Baseball Leagues, which had been in charge since 1901.

The parent companies of the Staten Island Yankees, Tri-City ValleyCats, Salem-Keizer Volcanoes and Norwich Sea Unicorns sued MLB in December 2021 in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, alleging a violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act caused by “a horizontal agreement between competitor­s that has artificial­ly reduced and capped output in the market for MiLB teams affiliated with MLB clubs.”

 ?? JOHN LOCHER — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS ?? Free agent forward Breanna Stewart, a former WNBA MVP, announced that she will play for New York this season.
JOHN LOCHER — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Free agent forward Breanna Stewart, a former WNBA MVP, announced that she will play for New York this season.

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