Key Points
Bullet point summary by AI
- Breanna Stewart opened the 2026 WNBA season with 31 points and 10 rebounds in a win over Connecticut, shooting 58.8 percent from the field.
- Her second game saw 23 points and 9 rebounds in overtime victory over Washington, moving her into 13th on the WNBA's all-time blocks list.
- Despite a packed offseason leading Unrivaled and Fenerbahçe to championships and negotiating a landmark CBA, Stewart shows no signs of slowing down.
Breanna Stewart might be the hardest-working and winningest women's basketball player ever. You'd think she would have gotten tired of winning by now, from the WNBA to Unrivaled to the EuroLeague. It seemingly comes naturally to her.
If you thought she was slowing down, you're sadly mistaken. Her first two outings to kick off the 2026 WNBA season proved just that. During the Liberty's season opener, a 106-75 victory over the Connecticut Sun, Stewie recorded 31 points, 10 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal and 3 blocks. She shot 58.8 percent from the field.
The Liberty's second matchup of the season was a much closer one. New York ultimately took the 98-93 victory over the Washington Mystics in overtime. Stewart was, again, on full display. She finished the day with 23 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks. Those two blocks put her at 13th on the WNBA's all-time blocks list.
As she embarks on her 10th season in the W, we can imagine Stewart's goal is the same: another WNBA Championship—especially after the Liberty were kicked from the 2025 playoffs in the first round. She might pick up some other hardware on the way, though. It's far too early to predict things like MVP and Defensive Player of the Year, but Breanna Stewart just sort of lives on both of those lists.
While you might be thinking this consistent dominance is the standard for Stewart—and it absolutely is, I'd expect nothing less. But I also believe the women's basketball community often overlooks her ability to maintain momentum, especially after the offseason she just had.
Breanna Stewart's busy offseason
After the Liberty's loss to the Phoenix Mercury in the first round of the WNBA Playoffs, Stewart had only a few months before Unrivaled's second season kicked off. But that doesn't mean she was relaxing. Not only is she one of the co-founders of Unrivaled, which I expect comes with its own responsibilities, but she also serves as Vice President of the WNBPA Executive Committee. She played a massive role in the CBA negotiations between the WNBA and the Players' Association. You can imagine that was in the back of her mind all offseason.
Once Stewart got to Unrivaled, she showed up as her elite self on the court. She finished the season averaging 21.4 points, 9.1 rebounds and 3.0 assists. She ultimately led her club, Mist BC, to win the Unrivaled Championship. She most likely came into this Unrivaled season with a little extra determination to win the Championship, as it would complete her gauntlet of rings. She's now an NCAA, WNBA, EuroLeague and Unrivaled champion. In the championship game, Stewart recorded 32 points, 3 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks. That performance also earned her Finals MVP honors.
You might be thinking, I hope she got to sit down after Unrivaled. Well, no. A couple of weeks before the Unrivaled season ended, it was announced that Stewie would fly to Zaragoza to join her EuroLeague squad, Fenerbahçe. She joined the club during the Final Six to add extra depth in their journey to a title. During her previous appearance with Fenerbahçe in 2023, she helped get them their first-ever title and won Final Four MVP. Fenerbahce ultimately won the 2026 title in April, giving Stewie her second championship ring of the offseason.
Travelling back to the couple of weeks in between Unrivaled and joining Fenerbahçe, Stewart was back on the frontlines of CBA negotiations. March was truly crunch time if the players and the league wanted to reach an agreement without postponing or canceling the 2026 WNBA season. Starting on March 10, the WNBA and players committee began meeting in person every day to negotiate. The talks lasted over 100 cumulative hours before they finally had a verbal agreement on March 18 at around 2 a.m. Stewart, along with others like Alysha Clark, Nneka Ogwumike and Bri Turner, was there every moment she could be.
Stewart told USA Today, "I want to make sure I'm doing everything I can to make the sport and the league better. There are moments where I could say I'm tired, or I want to be with my kids and my family. But the way I expect greatness from myself on the court—it's the same way off the court. I want to make sure I'm there to push things in the direction they need to go."
She included, "The past week has been tough. I haven't really seen my kids other than bringing them to school at 8 a.m. because I was coming home around 3 a.m. most nights. But those are the sacrifices everyone's willing to make for a deal that is so transformational come to light. I'm happy to hang with my kids and my wife and just enjoy this last little bit of off-time before we go ahead and ramp right back up."
Stewie really did only get a little bit of off-time since we last saw her on a WNBA court in September of 2025. If her first two 2026 appearances told us anything, it's that she isn't anywhere close to slowing down and we can expect a dominant Breanna Stewart through this season. Just when you think watching her can't get any better, she somehow always proves you wrong.
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