New York Liberty star Breanna Stewart underwent surgery Thursday, she announced on Instagram. While Stewart did not divulge any details, she reportedly had a scope done on her right meniscus, according to Alexa Philippou. Stewart is expected to be healthy for training camp, which begins in late April.
"Small thing to a giant," Stewart wrote in a caption under a photo of her in a hospital bed. "Might or might not retire the leg sleeve but definitely getting rid of all that tape, iykyk. S/o to the gang getting me through unrivaled and Dr. Weber for getting me right. See you in the W."
The inaugural season of Unrivaled, the new 3-on-3 basketball league Stewart co-founded with fellow WNBA star Napheesa Collier, will wrap up in the coming days with the semifinals Sunday and championship game Monday. Stewart's team, Mist BC, did not qualify for the playoffs.
If Stewart, 30, is actually going to be a full go for training camp, that's great news for the Liberty. It would not be a surprise, though, if the team takes the cautious route coming off the first title in franchise history. They need Stewart fully healthy in October if they want to pull off a repeat, and if that means she's on a minutes limit to start the season or misses a few games along the way, so be it.
Regardless, it would be interesting to know the organization's true feelings about how Stewart handled the injury. Her Instagram caption suggests her knee had been bothering her during the Unrivaled season, but she played through it -- presumably for the good of the upstart league and her investment. It's hard to imagine the Liberty are thrilled about that.
Would Stewart have gotten injured in the absence of Unrivaled? That's certainly possible. But if the issue had arisen during a workout, she could have taken care of it right away.
There were some other injuries during Unrivaled, but this is a major one that highlights the players' push to assert control over their careers. Stewart and Collier created Unrivaled to give players a chance to stay at home during the offseason and compete while earning a salary that for the majority was more than they make in the WNBA.
From a strictly monetary perspective, does Unrivaled then take precedence over the WNBA? Stewart was in a unique situation as a co-founder, of course, but it certainly seems like it did for her.
The WNBPA announced its plan to opt out of the current collective bargaining agreement at the end of the 2025 season, and Collier said recently on CBS Sports airwaves the union is prepared for the possibility of a work stoppage. Players are not only pushing for higher salaries, but better benefits and work-life balance, the likes of which were a key facet of Unrivaled.
Stewart should eventually recover and return to an MVP level this summer, but this could be a potential flashpoint in the impending labor battle between the players and the league.
