Breanna Stewart Is Playing for Liberty Legacy in Game 5 of WNBA Finals
The New York Liberty had a gripe with the officials following an 82-80 loss to the Minnesota Lynx in Game 4 of the WNBA Finals. Coach Sandy Brondello even uncharacteristically lost her cool in the post game press conference following the contest that was decided by Lynx free throws.
However, even if they are correct that the refs need to be better, so does their superstar player: Breanna Stewart.
Stewart was brilliant in the Liberty's Game 3 win, but in the team's two losses in the series she has left a lot to be desired. Including shooting just 5-21 when her squad had a chance to close out a championship Friday. With many of those misses coming on shots she would normally finish inside and clean looks on jumpers. She was still able to impact the game in other ways, both on the boards and defensively. But she is being held to the standard of a superstar.
The poor shooting performance also comes on the heels of Stewart having an opportunity to win Game 1 at the free throw line, where she missed the second of two shots. She followed that up by blowing a bunny at the end of overtime that would have tied the score, giving New York fans Patrick Ewing flashbacks in the process.
Stewart's career resume of course remains unimpeachable regardless of the outcome of this series. She went 4-4 winning titles during her time in college at UConn and has two WNBA championships with the Seattle Storm to go with 2 MVPs, one being with the Liberty last season.
The issue is that Stewie was unable to culminate her most recent MVP with a title, as New York lost the Finals to the Las Vegas Aces in 2023. And Stewart was just 3-17 in what turned out to be the closeout game of that series.
A player of her caliber simply cannot follow that up by not finishing the job in 2024, especially given the stacked Liberty team she plays with, and the shot teammate Sabrina Ionescu hit to put New York on the cusp of a championship. Otherwise she will rightfully face the wrath of WNBA and many Liberty fans for not bringing home the hardware in the big city.
Stewart and company will have another chance to put the Lynx away in Brooklyn on Sunday. But she will need to be better than she was in the first and most recent games of this fantastic WNBA Finals for that to happen. Her Liberty legacy depends on it.
Robin Lundberg is a media veteran and hoops head who has spent the bulk of his career with iconic brands like Sports Illustrated and ESPN. His insights have also been featured on platforms such as Fox and CNN and he can currently be heard hosting shows for Sirius XM and on his burgeoning YouTube show. And now he brings his basketball expertise to Women's Fastbreak on SI!