Breanna Stewart just knows how to win

Editor’s Note: This story is part of a series from SB Nation profiling the 2025 WNBA All-Star teams. Today, let’s get to know Breanna Stewart.

What is left to accomplish for a four-time NCAA Champion, three-time WNBA Champion, Olympic and World Champion, Euroleague Champion and two-time WNBA MVP? Not much, but why stop there? Breanna Stewart has shown zero signs of slowing down, and her accomplishments just get even sweeter now that her two kids, Ruby and Theo, get to watch their mom’s greatness.

When Stewie moved from Seattle, where she won two championships with the Storm after being drafted No. 1 overall in the 2016 WNBA Draft, to her home state of New York, it was to win. She wanted to bring the New York Liberty their first franchise Championship, and she did that along with Jonquel Jones, Sabrina Ionescu, and the rest of the 2024 Liberty team. Yet, the job isn’t done. A one-and-done championship isn’t enough to claim franchise greatness. They want to do it again.

If anyone can lead New York to back-to-back championships, it’s Stewie. She led UConn to four consecutive NCAA championships, a feat that may never be repeated. She has won in every league she has ever played in, in multiple countries, on several continents, and at all levels of basketball.

How does one win so much? It’s her versatility as a player. Stewart was a huge trailblazer when it came to developing dynamic forwards who, of course, dominate near the net, but can do virtually everything else on the court too. One of Stewie’s most known moves is a pull-up three-point shot in transition, taking advantage of the fact that her defender is likely both smaller than her and also not back in their position fast enough to stop her. She can pass, rebound, steal, and defend any position. The way she stretches the court allows Jonquel Jones ample room to operate, leading to a threatening New York offense.

She’s also a trailblazer off the court. She was the first women’s basketball player to release a signature sneaker in over a decade when her Puma Stewie 1s hit the market in 2022. Since then, they have released several new editions in multiple colors. It also started the wave of women’s basketball signature shoes that now includes teammate Sabrina Ionescu’s Nike Sabrina’s, A’ja Wilson’s Nike A’One’s, and Angel Reese’s recently announced Reebok AR-1’s. Nike has also already announced that both Caitlin Clark and Juju Watkins will release signature shoes in the next year.

Those are all huge wins Stewart has helped fuel for herself and the women’s basketball ecosystem as a whole off the court, but to win that elusive back-to-back championship, the Liberty will need all her poise and experience on it. After starting the season 9-0, New York has recently hit a slump, mostly due to the absence of Jonquel Jones due to an ankle injury. While Jones will return soon, Stewart has the job of assuring her team that they will be okay despite now having lost six of their last 11 contests.

She is probably still up to the challenge. Now a WNBA All-Star for the seventh time, Stewie is averaging 19.7 points per game for New York, and while her 3-point shooting is in a little bit of a slump this season, she makes up for it by making 6.8 field goals per game, which is within the 96th percentile league-wide. Her 3.7 win share value is in the 98th percentile league-wide, which means she is estimated to have produced 3.7 wins for her team on her own, through her play.

Things may not be going exactly to plan for the Liberty this year, but with Stewart leading them, they are still in an excellent position. She just knows how to win, how to motivate her teammates, and how to step up in whatever way a team needs, in the exact moment they need it. She’s in a new era now than she was as a young college-star — a mom, a wife, the undisputed leader of a franchise — but she’s still winning all the same.