Breanna Stewart wins second WNBA MVP award, first for Liberty

In her first season in New York, Stewart averaged a career-high 23 points per game along with 9.3 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 1.6 blocks and 1.3 steals per contest. The former UConn star had four 40+ games (WNBA single-season record) and five 35+ point games (tied for single-season record) in 2023. Her 919 total points in the season are the second-highest in league history behind former teammate Jewell Loyd, who scored 939 this year. Stewart led a stacked and rebuilt Liberty roster to a franchise-best 32-8 record and led all eligible WNBA players in offensive win shares with 7.0.

Quite possibly the biggest shock was not who won, but rather how the first-place votes were divided between Stewart, Alyssa Thomas of the Connecticut Sun and A'ja Wilson of the Las Vegas Aces. Thomas had the most first-place votes of the top three candidates while Stewart had the most second-place votes.

Wilson, last season's MVP and this year's Defensive Player of the Year, was understandably disappointed to not add more hardware to her collection, telling Doug Feinberg of the Associated Press, "It hurt like hell" to not win her third MVP.

Thomas had a case due to the Sun exceeding expectations after losing its former MVP, Jonquel Jones, to New York and head coach Curt Miller's departure to take over the Los Angeles Sparks. Wilson tallied a career-high in scoring while anchoring the league's best defense. Yet Stewart's presence remade New York's offense at a breakneck pace, especially after early season growing pains for the revamped lineup.

Stewart's MVP win is not only the first in the 27-year history of the Liberty, but it's also the first of any pro basketball player in New York City since the late Willis Reed took home the NBA's top honors in 1970 for the New York Knicks. 

Considering how many current and future Naismith Basketball Hall of Famers have played in the metropolitan area — Walt Frazier, Earl Monroe, Patrick Ewing, Bernard King, Rebecca Lobo, Jason Kidd, Carmelo Anthony and Kevin Durant — Stewart placed herself in rarefied air in a city that wraps its arms around the sport as much as any in the world.