Making the case: Breanna Stewart for Most Valuable Player

Fri, Sep 4, 2020, 7:21 PM

The league’s best player on the league’s best team, Breanna Stewart has once again found herself atop the WNBA in several categories. Not only has she led the Seattle Storm atop the WNBA standings, and its best start in franchise history, but Stewart has decisively put herself in the MVP discussion after winning the award during the Storm’s 2018 championship run.

“She’s a team player and is going to do whatever it takes to win,” head coach Gary Kloppenburg said. “You never worry about her. She’s such a great competitor that you know she’s always going to be a force out there and an impactful player.”

The fifth-year pro ranks in the top-10 in nearly every major individual statistical category, including points (19.6), rebounds (8.4), and blocks (1.35) per game. Stewart also has the highest individual player efficiency in the league of 23.3, marking her as perhaps the most versatile player in the WNBA.

Stewart also boasts the second-highest plus-minus in the league (behind teammate Alysha Clark), with the Storm outscoring opponents by 186 points while the forward is on the floor. The next highest non-teammate in that category is Courtney Vandersloot, with a 46-point difference.

She shows up across the entire statsheet, ranking in the top-10 in assists (3.1) and steals (1.5) per game among forwards.

All the while, Stewart has helped lead the league’s top defense. As a team, the Storm is the only team in the league to hold opponents to less than 40% shooting from the field on average, and only allow 73.8 points per game. Spearheading the defensive attack, Stewart is second in the league in defensive win shares (behind Clark) and fifth in the league in defensive rating for players who play at least 20 minutes per game.

 

“Her defense is really good,” Kloppenburg said. “[When] she doesn’t block it, she’s changing shots, she’s helping down in there. She can switch out on the guards, she’s just so impactful on that end.”

Stewart consistently shows up in big games, leading the Storm against the WNBA’s best competition. Against A’ja Wilson and the Las Vegas Aces, she scored a season-high 29 points with a career-high 18 rebounds, with two steals and a block. Against Candace Parker and Nneka Ogwumike of the Los Angeles Sparks, Stewart led the Storm with 21 points, nine rebounds, and four steals in a win.

More than anything, Stewart is a winner. With a playoff berth secured and a play at the top seed and best record in the league, Stewart has followed up her 2018 MVP campaign with an equally impressive year in Florida. Without a doubt, Stewart is the league’s best player on the league’s best team.

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