How it is with MVPs: The Case For Breanna Stewart

Thu, Sep 9, 2021, 9:14 PM

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By MARK MOSCHETTI

Around the Women’s National Basketball Association, 132 opposing players across 11 other teams have a hard time slowing down Breanna Stewart.

That’s how it is with MVPs.

Around the world – or at least, far enough around the world to travel the 5,000-plus air miles between Seattle and Tokyo – 16 time zones couldn’t slow her down, either.

That, too, is how it is with MVPs.

“We are all witnessing greatness, obviously, but it’s no surprise to me because of the work that she puts in and who she is as a person.” – Seattle Storm head Noelle Quinn

Just ask the Connecticut Sun.

Battling with Stewart and the Seattle Storm for one of the top two seeds into the upcoming WNBA playoffs, the Sun already had gotten their fill of a fully-energized Stewart twice this season prior to the Tokyo Olympics: 17 points and 12 rebounds in one game; 22 points, nine boards, five assists and three steals in the other. Both games ended in favor of the Storm.

But when Connecticut and Seattle clashed again, this time in the inaugural Commissioner’s Cup final on Aug. 12 in Phoenix, some wondered if perhaps Stewart might be something less than fully energized.

It had been just three days since she crossed those 16 time zones (not to mention the International Date Line) on the way back from Tokyo after helping the United States win yet another Olympic gold medal. Her contributions there included a team-leading 31.8 minutes per game for the six games, and double-double averages of 15.0 points and 10.0 rebounds en route to being named by FIBA as Olympic MVP.

But instead of playing tired or sluggish that night inside Footprint Center, Stewart was amped from the opening tip.

That’s how it is with MVPs.

“Despite being jet-lagged and stuff, once we got through warm-up, it was a regular scheduled program,” Stewart said after the Storm rolled to a 79-57 victory against a Sun team that was fully rested while the Storm had not only Stewart, but four other players just back from Japan. “We were just aggressive, and we knew what this game meant and what we wanted to kind of hit them first.”

During the first quarter, Stewart hit them for 15 points on 5-of-6 shooting from the field, with a perfect 3-of-3 from behind the 3-point arc. In her 27 minutes of action, She finished with 17 points, four rebounds, three assists, three blocked shots, and four steals.

MVP voting? That wasn’t any closer than the game itself.

“She steps up to big moments and is big in big games,” Sun coach Curt Miller said afterward. “The difference with her is this league is filled with tons of talented players that make open shots.

“But the elite – the elite consistently make contested hard shots. And Stewie is one of the best at that.”

 

QUITE A HAUL OF HARDWARE 

For the 27-year-old Stewart, being presented with a trophy or a plaque, or a crystal-clear piece of glass with “Most Valuable Player” etched on it has become a habit of the most pleasant kind. In fact, the Commissioner’s Cup award came just five days after she was named MVP of the Tokyo Olympics by FIBA, the world governing body of basketball.

And that’s not all:

  • In 2018, she was a triple-MVP, winning the award for both the WNBA regular season and then for the Finals. She followed that by winning MVP for the FIBA World Cup.
  • In 2019, Stewart was the EuroLeague regular-season MVP.
  • Last summer, Stewart again was the WNBA Finals MVP after helping the Storm win their fourth league championship.

Now, she’s making a strong case for yet another honor acknowledging her as the very best of the WNBA’s best – a group that currently includes Connecticut’s Jonquel Jones, Washington’s Tina Charles, Phoenix’ Brittney Griner, and Las Vegas’ A’ja Wilson.

Heading into the final three weeks of the regular season, Stewart was averaging nearly a double-double of 20.3 points and 9.9 rebounds. Speaking of double-doubles, she had 13 in the books through Sept. 7, including a stretch of four in five games to start the season, then three straight after a two-game post-Olympics, post-Commissioner’s Cup respite.

On May 22 in a road game against the Dallas Wings, Stewart poured in a current WNBA season high of 36 points. That pushed her past 2,500 for her career in just 125 games. She already had topped 1,000 rebounds, and became the fourth-fastest player to break both of those barriers.

So far in 2021, Stewart has been the league’s Player of the Week three times and was the Western Conference Player of the Month for May.

Sandy Brondello, head coach of the Phoenix Mercury, not only has to deal with Stewart in WNBA play, she also had to do so as coach of the Australian national team in an Olympics quarterfinal contest on Aug. 4.

Stewart certainly had the better of things that day, scoring 23 points on 8-of-10 shooting in just 23½ minutes of action, also collecting five rebounds as the U.S. rolled, 79-55.

“We like to say (with the Mercury), ‘We have Diana Taurasi and you don’t,’” Brondello said afterward. “Well, the U.S. can say, ‘We have Breanna Stewart and you don’t.’”

And whether she’s on the Olympics court in Japan or a WNBA court right here …

… that’s how it is with MVPs.

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