In five seasons with the WNBA’s Seattle Storm, power forward Breanna Stewart has averaged 20 points and 8.9 rebounds per game, been named WNBA Rookie of the Year, WNBA MVP, and a three-time All-Star, and she has two WNBA championships in which she was named Finals MVP as well.
So if Stewart, who was an unrestricted free agent, wanted to leave the Storm for a fresh challenge, she certainly would have been within her rights. However, the two-time Olympic gold medalist who won four NCAA titles at UConn has decided to re-sign with the Storm for one season on a supermax deal, according to Yahoo! Sports’ Chris Haynes.
WNBA free agent superstar Breanna Stewart has reached an agreement on a one-year supermax deal to return to the Seattle Storm, the franchise that drafted her No. 1 overall in 2016 and where she won two titles, league sources tell @YahooSports.
— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) February 1, 2022
A lot of people expected Stewart to leave Seattle and join the New York Liberty following a meeting with team brass recently. However, the Syracuse native has decided to remain on the West Coast for at least one more year where she’ll team once more with Sue Bird in the hopes of winning another WNBA title.
Stewart underwent surgery for a minor repair and reinforcement of an Achilles tendon in October. She missed the 2019 WNBA season after suffering an Achilles injury.
Whether or not this season will be her final one with the Storm remains to be seen. But for the moment, Seattle’s WNBA crowd and others in the basketball world had some strong reactions to the news of her return.
Good news for @seattlestorm fans! https://t.co/gSZwnadKtr
— Chris Daniels (@ChrisDaniels_TV) February 1, 2022
One of my favorite one-on-one interviews came shortly after Breanna Stewart won WNBA MVP and Finals MVP in 2018. I will get to tell my daughter I spent part of an afternoon with a woman who was the best in the world at what she did. Psyched she's staying in Seattle. https://t.co/t5vfu28Eso pic.twitter.com/p6YS5RJQjE
— Stephen Cohen (@scohenATH) February 1, 2022
Oh wow, I thought the deal with NY was all but done. Huge. #TakeCover https://t.co/42b9TNS2OY
— Derek Young (@DerekMYoung) February 1, 2022
It would have been hard to envision Stewie not returning for Sue Bird's final season. https://t.co/oTl7zhP3SY
— Joe Veyera (@JoeVeyera) February 1, 2022
one year 👀 taking the KD and LeBron route and honestly it’s smart https://t.co/hMBIynt7du
— whitney medworth (@its_whitney) February 1, 2022
