Breanna Stewart now knows what it takes to win in New York

Prince, the New York Liberty’s Director of Player & Community Engagement, revels in how Stewart is “delusional.” That’s not meant to be an insult; instead, it’s a compliment about how Stewart’s mind is built differently. 

“If we went down by 20 points in the fourth quarter, she’s still telling us we can win,” Prince told The Next. “I say that word because it’s just like she believes that she can beat anybody and anything that you put in front of her. She’s going to overcome.”

This is something that another New York basketball great and four-time WNBA champion and Seattle Storm legend Sue Bird also experienced. Bird recalled that Stewart didn’t use the word “if” to describe the possibility of winning. Rather, she believed that any team she was on was going to win. As one of the best players in the world, Stewart has believed in her ability and the work she’s done behind the scenes to prove that very fact.

“She didn’t say these words by the way,” Bird told The Next. “She would usually do it with a smirk and a shrug, but the sense you got was, let’s say we’re about to start the Finals, she just always had a vibe of like, ‘Well, yeah, we’re gonna win. I’m probably gonna play well, and we’re gonna win. Everything’s gonna be fine’, and so that was always the confidence she had as a player.”

Stewart’s “delusion” or extraordinary confidence in herself and her abilities are well supported in fact. She’s been responsible for a lot of winning, including four straight NCAA titles at UConn, two WNBA championships, two EuroLeague championships and now three Olympic gold medals. When a game of consequence was on the line for Stewart, regardless of who she was playing for, there was an understanding within herself that she would be playing her best and as a result would win. 

That expectation didn’t come to fruition on Oct. 18 of last year. The Liberty lost the 2023 WNBA Finals on a last-second shot that Stewart didn’t take on a play out of a timeout that the Las Vegas Aces read beautifully. With the ball, Stewart was bothered greatly by former teammate Alysha Clark. Stewart swung the ball to wing Betnijah Laney-Hamilton who then swung it to guard Courtney Vandersloot. On the broadcast Ryan Ruocco uttered the words “Vandersloot, NOOOOO,” which have become infamous, once Vandersloot fired up a 3-pointer and missed. The Liberty lost.

Stewart finished with a 10-point, 14-rebound double-double which included five assists, two steals and three turnovers. She shot 3-for-17 from the field to cap off a postseason where she shot 35.8%, a career worst when she played in more than just one playoff game. 

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This was the first WNBA finals she had ever lost and the first championship game she’s lost as a collegiate and professional player in the United States.

When she and Vandersloot sat beside head coach Sandy Brondello in the Liberty’s postgame presser following the team’s Game 4 Finals loss, Stewart couldn’t look at the reporters sitting across the room. When she did pick her head up, she had a glazed look on her face, a deer in headlights trying to process what just happened.  

What was different this time around? A lot. The stakes were as high as they had ever been for Stewart. She moved across the country back to her home state to try to bring New York its first ever WNBA championship. She had new teammates, coaches, more outside attention and a new growing family to care for. In addition to her role as a Vice President on the WNBPA’s executive committee, she and former UConn teammate Napheesa Collier decided to embark on a new business of their own, Unrivaled, a Winter 3×3 basketball league that will allow WNBA players to stay stateside and earn substantial amounts money for doing so. 

And on top of all of that, Stewart and her family confronted personal heartbreak. During the Liberty’s first serious championship run in over two decades, Stewart, her then-pregnant wife and their toddler Ruby saw Stewart’s father-in-law Josep Xargay pass away after a battle with lung cancer. He was one of Stewart’s most enthusiastic supporters.

Winning in New York with this extra weight on her shoulders was going to require something different from Stewart. The day following the shocking and heart-wrenching loss of the WNBA Finals, she texted Prince and others in her circle 10 words.  

“What did you see? How could I have been better?” she wrote.

The answer to the latter question is what Stewart has been trying to show in 2024 with another postseason having begun and potential WNBA Finals on the horizon. How did she alter her game, evolve her leadership style and grapple with what it means to be a prominent figure in New York all to propel her to be back in a position to win?

How Breanna Stewart modernized her game

Stewart’s uncharacteristic shooting splits during the 2023 postseason revealed areas that needed to be addressed if the Liberty were going to make another run to the WNBA Finals.

Part of what made Stewart’s 2023 regular season, and her first with the Liberty, remarkable was how her individual play elevated the Liberty from a seventh seed in postseason play in 2022 to a second seed a year later. 

The Liberty were a team that had to learn how to play with each other for the entirety of last season. As a result, Stewart had to lift a heavier load to get her team to where she believed it needed to be. 

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Stewart’s 2023 regular season, which would become her second MVP season, was about proving to everyone that she wanted to be in New York and that she was confident (or maybe “delusional”) in how she was going to be a part of something that hadn’t been done in the WNBA. Could a team that was assembled in free agency the winter before win a championship in its first season together? Both Stewart and the Liberty believed that possible, and it almost became a reality.

But once Stewart and the Liberty made it to the postseason, the way she had helped the Liberty climb the WNBA pecking order wasn’t sustainable to win a title. Washington’s Elena Delle Donne, Connecticut’s Alyssa Thomas and the Aces’ Clark and A’ja Wilson were Stewart’s main defenders throughout the Liberty’s 2023 postseason run. They all studied her tendencies, and Stewart struggled with their physicality and ball pressure.

So what was the solution? How would Stewart rebound from her worst playoff shooting splits? The idea was to make Stewart’s game less predictable and flesh out the ways she could take advantage of her versatility. She’s been described often as a facilitating big wing, but she was still playing like a stretch post player who could score from anywhere. How could the Liberty take advantage of all of her gifts and apply it to modern basketball tactics and principles? How could Stewart play a bit more to the advantageous percentages in today’s WNBA?

Liberty assistant coach and Brondello’s husband Olaf Lange worked with Stewart to devise an offseason plan where he would work with her on improving her finishing within the restricted area (four feet out from the basket) and limiting her tendency to take tough and contested midrange shots, like the ones she often took during the 2023 regular season and playoffs.

They also worked on her acceleration and deceleration when she slashes toward the basket. Lange and Brondello wanted their superstar to look for more contact rather than be averse to it. She was played very physically in the 2023 postseason, and it was hard for her to exploit that. But in 2024, she’d be screened for more and entrusted to function more like a wing or a guard rather than a post. 

Lange and Stewart trained all over the country and the world. If she had a photo shoot in Miami, he would make his way over there. And when Stewart took some time to visit her wife Marta Xargay’s hometown in Spain, Lange came too so the two could work. 

What has come as a result of that work in the offseason? 

Lange believes that Stewart has been playing better this season than she was last, even though she was the MVP in 2023 and her numbers slightly decreased during the 2024 regular season. The most jarring decline has been her 3-point percentage, which has been a point of emphasis this season. Stewart and those around her took issue with the assumption that she’s “aging out of her prime.” Stewart, who turned 30 at the end of August, has gone with a running gag since these comments. She has often posting a wine emoji signaling that she’s aging like a fine wine. Prior to the start of the playoffs on Sunday, Stewart kept that joke going with a famous meme of Betty White drinking a large class of wine.

Playoff energy 🔋😈🍷 pic.twitter.com/f3wekTGj85

— Stewie (@breannastewart) September 22, 2024

Stewart began this WNBA season shooting 18% on 3-point attempts, but she’s since improved in the later period of the regular season. Since the return to play following the Olympics, Stewart shot 40% from long range during the final 15 games of the regular season.

 “I think she’s playing better than last year,” Lange said. “Now, everybody goes on the 3-point shot, on the numbers, but we are playing better as a team. … She’s playing unselfish. She’s better at the rim. Her assist numbers are up. She’s better in the midrange. We are playing better as a team, the way she’s playing now, compared to last year where she had to do everything. So in terms of our chances to be a championship contender and eventually win it, this is way more conducive to that than last year’s performance.”

Stewart’s improved and more egalitarian style of play has stood out to those on the outside looking in, including her former Seattle head coach Dan Hughes. When the Liberty were in Seattle to play Stewart’s former team on Aug. 30, Hughes was invited to provide color commentary in person for the local broadcast. He watched his former player score 32 points on an efficient 10-for-16 shooting including hitting 3-of-4 on 3-point attempts. Half of Stewart’s field goals were created on her cutting off the ball, and all but one of her shots came via a pass from a teammate. She had five rebounds and six assists, too. 

“I have never seen Stewie move without the ball as well as I saw in that game,” Hughes told The Next. “Never. She didn’t have to have the basketball to make her impact. … Her movement without the basketball just continued to challenge and create opportunities for New York to play to her.”

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Embracing her leadership style while improving it too

When Stewart began her WNBA career with the Storm, her role and set of responsibilities were mostly cut-and-dry. She was the team’s major talent and all she needed to do was play at the highest level that she could. That example she set playing her hardest were her main contributions to her team winning. 

Bird, Stewart’s former teammate, was the consummate leader and knew what to say in certain situations. She served as a playcaller on the court and knew exactly how to motivate her teammates to get the most out of them. Stewart, meanwhile, took a bit of a different approach.

“She definitely talks and speaks up when you have meetings or situations where you need a leader to speak up, but I think her’s is more like, she’s just like a dog on the court, and she always plays hard,” former Liberty and college teammate Stefanie Dolson said about Stewart. “She always does the little things. I think she’s one of the hardest people to guard in the league, because she’s just a non-stop effort. And I think that’s a really good thing to have as a leader, because you see how hard they’re working, and you just want to follow.”

Bird agreed. While Stewart’s leadership style was more action-oriented and less verbal than Bird’s own, leading by example is nothing to slouch at.

“To say someone leads with their play is not a small thing when you are playing at an MVP level,” Bird said. 

But if Stewart wanted to improve herself in 2024, she’d have to challenge herself and take some more ownership of the Liberty and use her experience from her days in Seattle to propel New York forward.

That meant listening and taking action. It meant speaking up more but not trying to be someone that she isn’t. Stewart didn’t have to be as verbose as Bird always was. 

“Great leaders are listeners first,” head coach Brondello said. 

Hughes added: “I think leadership is when people aren’t watching as much as when they are. You need to be the leader in those moments where the world’s not watching. You need to be a leader sometimes one-on-one or behind closed doors or on a team bus or team plane now. You never see those moments.”

After last year’s Finals loss, Stewart and teammate Sabrina Ionescu had conversations during the offseason reflecting upon what went well and what didn’t. 

Those were moments where the duo could be honest, direct and get on the same page when it came to the standard the two wanted to set for their team in year two. Ionescu expressed to Stewart that she regretted not using her own voice when times got tough in 2023. Like Bird, Ionescu is more comfortable using her voice, but as the youngest player in the Liberty’s starting five (excluding when Leonie Fiebich starts), she was hesitant to speak out. Chatting with Stewart gave Ionescu the affirmation that she needed to use her voice to lead and that’s exactly what the Liberty need of her. 

That’s leadership. 

When the Liberty were solidifying their two player representatives to serve the players union for this season, Stewart pushed Ionescu to volunteer along with wing Kayla Thornton, who readily put her hat in the ring. “I told Sab it was a good thing to be a part of because her voice needs to be heard,” Stewart said. “Especially with all the negotiations that are going to be potentially coming. She needs to be involved in that and, making sure that we get everything that we want.” 

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Something that Vandersloot has noticed about Stewart ever since they played in Russia and Turkey together was how even-keeled the two-time MVP often is. It came as a surprise to Vandersloot when Stewart decided to open up to her teammates during training camp prior to the 2024 season about what she went through during last season’s playoffs. She explained the heavy emotional load she dealt with when her father-in-law Xargay died of lung cancer on the day that the team flew to Las Vegas for Game 1 of the WNBA Finals. 

While Vandersloot knew what was going on in Stewart’s personal life, she didn’t truly comprehend how much Xargay’s deteriorating health and eventual death had affected her. 

“That was a good learning lesson for all of us,” Vandersloot told The Next.  “We were like, ‘Oh, we knew, but we didn’t know, know.’ And so I think she needed a pat on the back on that day, and that’s what I mean, she’s human. And she just went on about her business so highly, and that’s who Stewie is as a player doing all of the things. But yeah, she needed us.”

There’s an understanding amongst current Liberty players that were on the 2023 roster that Stewart’s vulnerability drew the group closer and deepened their interpersonal connection and trust. Vandersloot continued: “Her being vulnerable, her opening that for everybody, because we all go through shit. We’re all taught to not bring it to work. I think her being open to us really early on showed that we can bring some stuff into the locker room.”

Another sign of Stewart’s evolving leadership for the Liberty has been how she knows when to and when not to speak to her teammates.

After the Liberty’s 83-69 win over the Atlanta Dream in Game 1 of the opening round of the playoffs on Sunday afternoon, Stewart was asked how she poured into teammate Fiebich who was about to start in her first WNBA playoff game.

“To be honest, I didn’t say anything to Leo,” Stewart said, “because I didn’t think she needed it.”

What does it mean to be “Stew York City”?

In New York, Stewart is often everywhere all at once. One moment she’s strutting in her most eclectic outfits alongside Liberty mascot Ellie the Elephant, and another she’s showing the world how chaotic her life is with her wife and two children. Her likeness was all over the Union Square subway stations over the summer. She’s much more recognizable than ever.

While Stewart’s public profile and persona have grown and expanded in New York by design, that doesn’t mean Stewart’s core principles have changed. She’s still a team-first player and she wants everyone to know it. Every time the Liberty have won this season, Stewart carefully curates social media posts with photos and videos that mostly include the top plays her teammates make. It’s done with great intention. 

“Each win is special and takes all of us, no matter how big or small each of our roles are,” she said. “I want to celebrate that and use my platform to highlight my teammates.”

W pic.twitter.com/Zc4q6Lj5aX

— Stewie (@breannastewart) September 9, 2024

As the anniversary of her father-in-law’s death is approaching, Stewart has decided to give back to honor him. Being a doer is the only way she knows how. “I think she looks at the world and says, ‘Okay, what’s needed here?'” Hughes said. “That’s a great curiosity to have as you travel the road of life.”

On Saturday, she took part in an event in New York called National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP) Unite. The event supported the NMDP, a nonprofit that facilitate transplants for cancer patients in need. She also joined the NMDP registry putting herself in a position to donate blood to those in need.

Dealing with controversy while expanding her brand, grief in her family, being open to evolving her leadership style and committing to adding and altering her game. These are all what has been required of Stewart to find her way in New York and move a step closer to bringing a WNBA title home. 

“When things go wrong, you don’t have to change the whole system,” Stewart said. “Sometimes you have to stay with it and trust the process and understand that things are going to fall into place as they go. But while things are hard, making sure that I’m constantly putting in the work, getting better and doing whatever I can to make sure myself and my body are ready to be the best that I am.” 

If the Liberty do win their first title in franchise history in a month’s time, it’s going to mean a lot more to Stewart and her entire family. It will be her first championship as a mother, and it will show that she yet again has risen above some of the most challenging obstacles. For Stewart’s wife, the Liberty winning the championship this year would fulfill what her father would have wanted too. “I know he’ll be proud of what we’ve accomplished and how we’ve navigated this past year without him,” she said.  

Jenn Hatfield contributed reporting to this piece.

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