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It feels like every time I see Breanna Stewart, she’s celebrating with a cigar hanging out of her mouth.
It’s early March in Miami and Stewie, as she’s affectionately known by teammates and fans alike, is sitting at a press conference table, so fresh off of winning the Unrivaled Championship (the three-on-three pro league for players to compete in during the WNBA’s offseason) with her team Mist BC that her champion t-shirt thrown over her jersey is soaked with sweat. She also secured Unrivaled Finals MVP—all in just the second year of the league she cofounded. So if anyone deserves a cigar and champagne sprays, it’s her.
“That specific group was really special,” she tells me on the phone in late April about winning the ’ship with the Mist BC squad. “I’ve won a lot, fortunately, and in those small moments, sometimes you overlook them. They helped me kind of remember back to my first time, and I wanted to help them create that memory. Because once you do it, you want to keep doing it.”
Humbly saying she’s won “a lot” is a bit of an understatement—it’s essentially the bulk of what she knows. When it comes to winning, she is—quite literally—true to this, not new to it.
In college, when she played at the mecca of women’s college basketball, University of Connecticut, her team won the NCAA National Championship four years in a row—so, yes, the entirety of her college career. When she graduated in 2016, she was the No. 1 draft pick for the WNBA and joined the Seattle Storm. In 2018 and 2020, the team won the WNBA Championship, officially adding rings to Stewie’s second hand.
Most recently, the Syracuse native has been a starting forward for the New York Liberty since 2023; she’s a part of the team’s “big three” alongside Sabrina Ionescu and Jonquel Jones. In 2024, Stewie helped lead the team to its first-ever WNBA Championship. And just a few weeks ago, she won another championship, this time with an overseas team in Turkey. The WNBA season tips off on May 8, and Stewie has already played so much basketball these last few months, but she’s not feeling the least bit burnt out.
“Ever since the Liberty season finished [last year], I’ve been waiting for it to start again,” she says. “I’m excited. We have a new staff, some new players, everything is new, and I just want to be back in front of the fans again.”
She’s been finding wins off the court, too, but not just for herself. Earlier this spring, the Women’s National Basketball Players Association (WNBPA, often just called the “PA”) reached a historic collective bargaining agreement (CBA) with the WNBA that massively increased players’ salaries, among many other significant improvements. It’s already been life-changing for the athletes, who’ve for the first-time in their careers, seen million dollar contracts. It is an overdue and welcome change for the league and feels especially poignant as The W enters its 30th season. As the vice president of the PA, Stewie was at the forefront in advocating for these changes.
“Players won’t have to feel like they have to be playing basketball nonstop,” she says about the CBA. “They can play during The W season and then decide if they want to keep playing in the wintertime, if they want to go overseas, or play Unrivaled. And it’s not because you need money now. It’s because literally you want to and if you want to focus on your game and work on that. We’re now getting into a territory where players are going to start to be able to have the means to not only survive in the offseason but really thrive.”
Fresh out of practice, Stewie hopped on the phone with me to chat about her upcoming 10th season, the evolution of The W, how the city influences her personal style, all the NYC restaurants she’s itching to try with her wife, and the NYC playgrounds she wants to take their kids.
I like to go shopping. I’ve been just going home and being with Marta and the kids, hanging out, watching the NBA Playoffs. We had an off day on Sunday, because we had a preseason game Saturday, and we went to brunch and a farmer’s market. So trying to do the New York things a little bit. Me and Marta, this year our plan is to go to as many new restaurants as possible in New York. We’re on a mission to really go around and find the best food. Michelin star or not, I want the best ones. We have a list. We just went to Danny’s in Tribeca.
No, do I need it?
Okay, wait, I’m getting that really quick then I’m focused.
I do, but I was looking forward to being back home in New York and having my family and me really get into a schedule. It’s more my comfort knowing, like, I go to Barclays, this is where I practice, and this is where I drop my kids off at school. And getting to sleep in my own bed, that’s the biggest thing.
To win Unrivaled and to be a cofounder and having won in my second season with the team was really exciting. I enjoyed playing for [my coach] Zach, and I enjoyed my teammates a lot, and we had a lot of fun in our short stint in Miami.
For the team in Turkey, I literally said to them, “I’m just here to help. So whatever you need me to do, I’ll do it,” while acknowledging this is not my team—I’m not going to come in here and try to run the show. I was just doing whatever they needed and respecting all that those players had done to get to that point. I’m happy we were able to walk away with another Euro League Championship.
“Winning means legacy. It’s something that I just want to keep doing.”
—Breanna Stewart
I think now winning means legacy. It’s something that I just want to keep doing. I’m 31, but I have some tread on my tires a little bit, and I want to show people how to do it. I want them to feel that moment. When we won [the WNBA Championship] with the Liberty, that was insane. All of it—the fans, the parade, everything. And I want my teammates to feel that again, because the city was behind us, and they still are 1,000 percent. That parade, feeling those goosebumps, that feeling when you’re bumping to “Empire State of Mind,” I want everybody to feel that.
Just realizing where I started to where I am now—of being a rookie, having my first season in Seattle, going through some adversity, rupturing my Achilles, winning [the WNBA Championship with the Storm], moving to New York. I’ve been through a lot, and I really just bring that perspective with me as I go forward. And now I’m appreciating it. I was in the league when we had roommates, and now you have people on million dollar contracts. We’re just scratching the surface of where we’re going to be, and that’s really exciting.
I feel like my identity was tied to winning. I won a lot when I was in college. If I could go back, I would tell my rookie self, “Be prepared because you’re going to lose games.” My rookie season, we were like 17-18 or something like that—like, under 500. I only lost, like, five games in college. So that was a bit of a shock to my system. I know what type of player I am; it was just more frustrating because I knew what I could do and I knew the impact that I had.
No, I don’t think so. Sometimes mentally, you’re up and down, especially with an injury or having to play through something or just having patience. But I’m confident in who I am, and I know it, and I have all the things to back it. So even if there’s a moment of something wavering, I’m like, No, look at what you did, at what you’ve done, and remember who you are.
It’s definitely some self-talk. Like before every game, I think about being dominant and knowing that the other teams can’t guard me but also working through it. I’m in the gym, too. If something’s not working, I want to figure out why and how I can make it work.
Marta’s someone that’s played in the WNBA, in the Olympics, she gets it, she understands the grind behind it and how practice days can be sometimes. We can talk about how I’m feeling on the court. I want to hear her perspective. She does her best to make sure I’m not feeling overwhelmed if I have a lot going on and just reminding me to focus on the main thing and that’s playing and being there for my team and for my family.
Marta is my rock, my backbone. We just enjoy each other’s company. She’s literally what’s keeping our house and our family afloat during the season. When I’m away or in practice all the time, she makes it so I’m able to be where my feet are and focus on that. So I’m either with my team or with my family.
Probably as loving but competitive, crazy, and funny. I think I’m funny. She must think I’m funny, too. Sometimes it’s the dry sarcasm, and she’s just rolling her eyes at me. This is our seventh year together, married five. It’s coming up in July. We don’t have any anniversary plans. I’ll probably be playing. We’re going to look at some of the spots on Beli and go to dinner!
The kids have a toy room, so we’re probably up there. But my kids, who are 4 and 2, right now they’re screaming. My son—I don’t know if he doesn’t hear volume or what—he is just constantly screaming. We’re singing Frozen, specifically “Let It Go,” then probably watching a movie or TV. If it’s not raining, we try to go outside to a park. I also want to go to playgrounds—that’s my next thing on my list. I want to go to restaurants and playgrounds. There’s this whale playground that I keep talking to Marta about on the west side on the water. I want to go there with the kids so badly because it looks so cool.
It means even more, because I’m a role model to a lot of kids, but now my kids in the house are looking up to me and following everything that I do. So it’s about making sure that they see the best of me at all times. And you know, even when I have bad days, that I’m still gonna be good. They copy everything I do.
My kids, they’re so innocent and so unaware of everything that’s happening. I could lose a game and I’ll come home and they’ll be like, “Mommy, you want to play like unicorn Candy Land” or something like that. And it just really puts it into perspective that the world is going to keep spinning. Sometimes we have bad days at the office, but my kids always show up for me, and I’m going to always show up for them.
I was in the league when we had roommates, and now you have people on million dollar contracts. We’re just scratching the surface of where we’re going to be.
—Breanna Stewart
Being a parent and raising children is definitely hard enough. No matter who does it, but there’s something to mom strength. There is something behind that. When my kids were younger, you literally had sleepless nights, and you wake up and you go to practice or you go play a game. And somehow, you just keep going. They give me added strength. I don’t know how or where it comes from, but you just keep going.
The historic CBA that we were able to accomplish and being able to get everything we wanted and more. We are now a part of a revenue share model, we are getting 20 percent of growth, and that’s going to continue to make our number hopefully grow year after year. Some salaries can continue to grow but also still having housing provided for those that need it. The benefits for family planning are going up—401(k)s, back pay to retire players. There’s so much that we accomplished in the CBA, and I’m really excited about it because it’s not only touching the current players but also the former ones who have gotten us here and gotten us to have a successful 30 seasons before this.
Pay is the biggest one, but I think the family planning is a big one, too. You used to be eligible for it after your eighth year of service, and now it’s after year two. You get a certain stipend or amount of money if you want to freeze your eggs, do IVF, or whatever the case may be. That stuff is expensive. And as an athlete, you can’t just freeze your eggs whenever you want because that means you have to stop working out. And you’re obviously healthiest when you’re younger, especially with that fertility aspect of it, so now players can make that decision a lot sooner if they want to.
Like you said, I wanted to be an advocate for the players and really understand what everybody’s wants and needs are and being able to really use my platform to help fight that fight and show up every day, whether it was showing up the meetings or on the calls and really knowing the things that I was pushing for but also the things that everybody else wants and just really being able to be that kind of voice for everybody.
I don’t know exactly which one, but every time I get to wear Issey Miyake, I just love it. It’s comfortable, it’s leisure, it’s casual. You can dress it up or dress it down—that’s what I want.
I’m confident in who I am, and I know it, and I have all the things to back it.
—Breanna Stewart
New York influences my personal style, just seeing the vibes. I told Marta I want to start dressing up. Yeah, it’s annoying to wake up in the morning and put on jeans and stuff like that. But, like, I’m in New York and I want to be like a New Yorker. I’m going to dress it up for opening night because you have to make sure that that is always a top outfit. And then I have to think about it a little bit for the rest of the season. I got some boots in there. A lot of Puma. I’m excited.
I’m a chop chop in the deli.
My watch.
A Boogie.
Oh, I keep telling Marta I want to donate all my clothes. Someone said that you’re only supposed to have 95 pieces of clothing, and I have, like, way more than 95, so I keep trying to tell myself that I only want just 95. I want to live the simple. But it’s not working.
My electric toothbrush. I love it.
I feel most confident when I’m dressed up and when I put a good ’fit on.
At this very moment, I see the headline of my life is just trying to be great everywhere. And great vibes.
This interview has been lightly edited for space and clarity.
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