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Ramona Shelburne, ESPN senior editor
In one of the biggest free agent moves in WNBA history, former league MVP Breanna Stewart decided to play for Freedom of New Yorkleaving the Seattle Storm after winning two championships in seven years, she announced Wednesday on Twitter.
Wednesday marked the first day WNBA free agents could officially sign contracts and offer contracts for the 2023 season, although sources told ESPN that Stewart was still working out the details of the deal she would sign with New York.
“It’s been a roller coaster of emotions, for sure, and I decided to go to New York because I want to continue to be great,” Stewart told Malika Andrews on ESPN’s “SportsCenter.” . “I want to go where I can continue to help this league get better, continue to raise the level.
“I’m like, why not go to the biggest market in all of sports, and I’m really excited to capture their first championship.”
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– Breanna Stewart (@breannastewart) February 1, 2023
Stewart, 28, made charter air travel a key factor in his free agency, league sources told ESPN. It was a topic of discussion with all four teams she met — Liberty, Storm, Minnesota Lynx And Washington Mystics — to find out their position on this issue, which they believe is essential to the health, safety and performance of players.
Although neither team was able to directly engage on the issue due to salary cap rules, sources said Stewart believes she has raised the issue to a level of importance such as meaningful conversations will continue in the immediate future.
“Stewie’s free agency is WNBA history at an inflection point: players understand their value, the potential of the WNBA and are enthusiastic partners in growing a business that is experiencing incredible momentum” , said Stewart’s agent, Lindsay Kagawa Colas of Wasserman. ESPN in a statement Wednesday. “She owned the process and the responsibility that comes with power, in a way that will hopefully impact how smart free agents of all genders approach similar opportunities.”
Stewart was the No. 1 pick by the Storm in 2016 and won two WNBA titles with Seattle, also winning the league MVP trophy in 2018. She averaged 20.3 points and 8.6 rebounds per game during of his career, after missing the 2019 season with an Achilles injury.
The addition of Stewart, a Syracuse native who played at the collegiate level at UConnpropels Liberty into championship race as she joins 2020 No. 1 pick Sabrina Ionescu and recently acquired Jonquel Jonesthe 2021 WNBA MVP, in what appears to be the second “superteam” created this offseason.
Last weekend, the defending champion The Aces of Las Vegas added league MVP twice Candace Parker to a list which already included Chelsea Gray, A’ja Wilson And Kelsey Plum.
“New York is a basketball town and I can’t wait to be a part of it,” Stewart said.
The Liberty have long been proponents of charter air travel, with owner Joseph Tsai tweeting in October 2021 that he would work with WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert to resolve the issue. In 2022, the Liberty were fined $500,000 for chartering flights for the team without league approval.
Unlike the NBA’s 30 teams, the WNBA’s 12 teams travel on commercial airlines except in rare circumstances. The WNBA and its owners have decided that no team can fly charter — even if its owners can pay for it — unless all teams can afford to fly charter. It is estimated that chartering all the teams’ trips would cost nearly $30 million.
WNBA owners are expected to hold a board of governors vote to make changes to the system. Since the issue is the subject of collective bargaining, the players’ association should also review it. During the last CBA negotiations, the players notably chose to raise the question of an increase in remuneration.
Stewart told Andrews she hopes a step forward on the issue could come soon, perhaps allowing charter flights in certain situations, such as for longer distances or when teams are ready to play games consecutive.
The issue of private air travel has come to the fore this winter due to the assumption, according to sources, that Phoenix Mercury center Brittney Griner will have to take a private flight for security reasons after his release from a Russian prison in December. Griner was arrested at a Moscow airport last February after Russian authorities said she was carrying vape cartridges containing cannabis oil in her luggage. She was held for nine months before her release in December as part of a prisoner exchange brokered by President Joe Biden’s administration.
If Griner were to fly private, the WNBA would have to consider whether her Mercury teammates would fly private with her. This would raise the question of fairness for other teams in the league.
Griner, an unrestricted free agent, has indicated she wants to play for the Mercury in 2023 but has not yet requested special travel terms from the league, sources said.
Stewart, who played with Griner on U.S. national teams and tweeted about her nearly every day during Griner’s incarceration, raised the issue of charter flights for the entire WNBA in a Jan. 22 tweet. She tweeted that she would be willing to contribute financially. of their name, image and likeness, social media posts and production hours to ensure the entire WNBA can travel privately “in a manner that prioritizes health and player safety” and “ultimately results in a better product.”
Last week, Brooklyn nets guard Kyrie Irvingwho is vice president of the National Basketball Players Association, expressed support for WNBA players to have charter flights for travel.
“I wish it was as simple as getting it tomorrow, but business takes a little patience and our W ladies have been patient long enough, so we definitely have to do something,” he said . “And I’m with them no matter how much it costs in itself. I think we could all come together and make something very achievable.”
Losing Stewart in the same offseason that franchise icon Sue Bird retired is a big blow for the Storm, who are down to just two players – Jewell Loyd And Mercedes Russell — under contract for the 2023 season.
Seattle is one of three teams still in play for the former Chicago Sky guard Courtney Vanderslootwho announced Tuesday that she do not return to the franchise she won a championship with it in 2021.
ESPN previously reported that Vandersloot was considering the Storm, Liberty and Lynx along with the Sky and that his free agency could factor into Stewart’s decision. Vandersloot, who plays with Stewart at Turkish side Fenerbahce, is expected to announce his decision this week, sources said.
