Breanna Stewart joining Liberty
Breanna Stewart is taking her talents to the Big Apple.
The former MVP announced Wednesday, the first day of WNBA free agency, that she is joining the New York Liberty as a free agent. She made a post on Twitter that featured an image of the Empire State Building lit up with her “Stewie” nickname and a video with her pulling off a jersey that says, “I want to do my part to make this world a better place” to reveal a Liberty T-shirt.
Stewart spent the first six seasons of her career with the Seattle Storm, who selected her as the No. 1 overall pick in the 2016 WNBA draft out of Connecticut. She won two WNBA titles with the team, in 2018 and 2020. She was the Finals MVP in both championships and won the league MVP in 2018.
Last season, the Storm finished fourth in the league and were knocked out of the playoffs in the semifinals by the eventual champion Las Vegas Aces. It was Sue Bird’s last season before retiring after a 20-year career.
Stewart has started 183 games and averaged 20.3 points and 8.6 rebounds per game in six seasons. She missed the 2019 season with a torn Achilles.
The forward was the first woman in a decade to get a signature shoe when she inked a deal with Puma in 2021. The Stewie was released in July.
She joins a Liberty team that finished 16-20 last year and added 2021 MVP Jonquel Jones to their roster in a trade this offseason. They will help former No. 1 overall pick Sabrina Ionescu get her first winning season.
Kevin Durant, who plays for the Liberty’s NBA brother team the Brooklyn Nets, welcomed Stewart by reposting her announcement.
“Aye, don’t call my phone lookin for tickets this summer, they gone. Let’s get it @nyliberty,” he said.
The WNBA is facing the decision of whether to allow its players to take charter flights to games, which ESPN reports was a discussion topic during Stewart’s free agency talks. Currently, teams take commercial flights to travel to games.