Liberty star Breanna Stewart once again reiterated she has no plans to leave in free agency.
Maybe this time people will finally believe her.
Speaking on an episode released Wednesday of her podcast, “Game Recognize Game with Stewie and Myles [Turner],” Stewart said point-blank she will re-sign with the Liberty once WNBA free agency opens this month.
“I’m gonna just set the record straight here,” Stewart said. “I will be staying in New York.”
Stewart is widely considered one of the league’s top unrestricted free agents. The two-time league MVP and three-time WNBA champion is not eligible for the core designation, meaning she could go anywhere if she wanted to.
But Stewart has made it very clear since the end of last season that it was New York or nowhere.
“I’m not planning on taking any free-agency meetings even though I am an unrestricted free agent,” she said. “My family is set up here. We’re solid here. … I’m gonna be back here in New York, and that’s all there is to it. So good luck to everyone else in free agency, but I’m not a part of that.”
Stewart has been a superstar in the WNBA for the past decade. Last season, she led the Liberty in scoring, averaging 18.3 points. She also contributed 6.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 1.4 steals and 1.4 blocks per game.
The Liberty posted a net rating of 10.4 when she was on the court (best on the team for an individual) versus minus-1.1 when she was off it.
Stewart was the Liberty’s best player in their first-round playoff loss to the Mercury, despite playing on a bum knee.
This offseason, Stewart led the Mist to Unrivaled’s championship. She’s preparing for a second offseason championship run this month in EuroLeague with Turkish club Fenerbahce Opet.
Stewart recently told The Post she’s “feeling great honestly.”
“Compared to what I was dealing with throughout the entire W seasons, I’m able to be myself on the court,” Stewart said. “And obviously, there’s just making sure that I continue to be smart with how much I’m practicing, and how much I’m doing stuff but I’m feeling 100 percent better, so it’s nice to just play my game.”
Stewart’s declaration gives general manager Jonathan Kolb one less thing to worry about this offseason — not that he was necessarily concerned she might leave, considering how adamant she’s been about her desire to play in New York.
The Liberty intend to re-sign unrestricted free agents Sabrina Ionescu and Jonquel Jones, too.
The WNBA expansion draft for the Portland Fire and Toronto Tempo is scheduled for Friday. The league hasn’t officially shared dates for when free agency will start, but qualifying offers must go out first before official negotiations begin.
The Liberty have just two players under contract for 2026: Leonie Fiebich and Nyara Sabally.
Marine Johannes and Rebekah Gardner are reserved free agents, and the Liberty are expected to maintain exclusive negotiating rights with Betnijah Laney-Hamilton after the team suspended her contract last season to allow her to fully recover from a March 2025 knee surgery.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
