Breanna Stewart chooses Liberty over Knicks focus this weekend

Breanna Stewart spent the weekend not practicing with the New York Knicks but on a white-knuckle SailGP experience in New York Harbor, where she explored how “opportunities in New York” helped shape her decision to re-sign with the Liberty on a discounted deal

Breanna Stewart wasn’t in a gym with the Knicks this weekend. She was strapped into a 50-foot foiling catamaran for a high-speed tour around New York Harbor, sliding into the wetsuit and then climbing aboard a $5 million sailboat that brought the city rushing past at around 50mph.

For a three-time Olympic gold medalist and a New York fan favorite, the timing mattered. While the NBA Finals approach. the New York Liberty power forward instead spent her weekend getting a first-hand look at SailGP—an international racing circuit described as “Formula One on the water.” Stewart later explained that what draws her back to New York isn’t just basketball. “I think that the opportunities in New York are kind of limitless. ” she said. before adding that “Having a big tour stop here is really cool.”.

The weekend was built around SailGP’s “Sixth Sailor Experience. ” with Stewart alongside actor Ewan McGregor as two celebrities selected for the program. On Friday. Stewart trained with the crew in Brooklyn. grinding the hand cranks used to control sails and testing her strength in a setting far removed from the hardwood. The next day. she boarded the boat in a “high-tech wetsuit” and took her seat for the fastest part of the experience—weather and schedule permitting.

Saturday’s conditions limited the SailGP races to just four teams. each divided by country but sharing the same exact ship design. Stewart wasn’t listed as an participant in the racing itself. but the event still delivered an ultimate VIP pull: she wasn’t racing the clock. yet she was still out in the chaos of speed.

SailGP’s rise has been powered by big money and big names. The six-year-old circuit is funded by Oracle billionaire Larry Ellison and has spared no expense in attracting elite talent. On the Australian team, the Bonds Flying Roos, actors Hugh Jackman and Ryan Reynolds are invested. The USA SailGP team counts actress Issa Rae. NFL stars DeAndre Hopkins and Kayvon Thibodeaux. and entrepreneurs Marc Lasry and Gary Vaynerchuk among its owners.

Stewart’s explanation connects the thrill of that world to the choice she made closer to home. The all-time WNBA star said those “opportunities in New York” were unthinkable during her years with the WNBA’s Seattle Storm from 2016 to 2022. and even less likely during her other pro stops in China. Russia. or Turkey.

It’s why she re-signed with the Liberty on terms that came with a notable tradeoff. Stewart re-joined the franchise for three years and $3.7 million instead of taking a full max contract on the free-agent market elsewhere. The move mattered to the Liberty’s championship timeline: it allowed the team to retain its championship core from 2024—Stewart. Sabrina Ionescu. and Jonquel Jones.

She also pointed to a pattern. In 2024, Stewart signed a one-year extension that gave the Liberty about $40,000 in extra cap room. With today’s salary cap set at $7 million per team. that figure now feels almost symbolic—proof of how often she’s chosen the same kind of leverage: keep New York. keep the roster intact.

The numbers behind her bargaining power are just as central to the story. Stewart. who is the vice president of the WNBPA executive committee. helped negotiate the league’s new collective-bargaining agreement that bumped top salaries from $249. 000 to $1.4 million. She benefited from that new opportunity, but she didn’t take the biggest version of it.

Stewart described her thinking in simple terms. “Yeah, we were gonna stay here,” she told The Daily Mail on Friday. She added that her wife loves the city, her kids know New York is where “the lights are the brightest,” and the city “never stops.”

When she talked about the contract decision, she tied her priorities directly to the Liberty’s needs. “I think. wanting to obviously make as much as I can. while also making sure that [the Liberty] have the [cap] space to have a lot of great players is something that’s really important. ” Stewart said. “and definitely wanted to make sure of that.”.

Her presence at SailGP also shows how professional athletes are learning to stretch their careers beyond a season—an idea Stewart has lived through across multiple sports and countries. She isn’t short on endorsement opportunities either. from her own line of Puma sneakers to a multi-year partnership with trading card giant Panini America.

But SailGP isn’t trading on her basketball résumé. The league needs star power to pull in general sports fans and the wealthy audience it targets, and it went straight to Stewart during her extraordinary run both on and off the court.

Stewart’s résumé is stacked: aside from the 10 combined titles she’s won in college basketball. the WNBA. and the Olympics. she has three-time Euroleague champion credentials and titles from the Turkish and Russian leagues. She’s also part of Unrivaled, the 3-on-3 league she helped launch with Napheesa Collier.

In labor talks, those global options became leverage. Stewart described it as a kind of awakening—finally being able to weigh choices instead of chasing another paycheck during the offseason. “You want to make sure that you have other options, as far as opportunities,” she said. “Your playing career is only so long, and [you] want to maximize that as much as possible.”.

Stewart’s view lines up with what the new WNBA labor deal changed. She said players now see the worth of the players being valued and that it isn’t about being forced. it’s about being able to decide. “Now that the WNBA really sees the worth and the value of the players. it’ll be a decision. ” Stewart said. “It’s not something you’re forced to do. but you can decide if you want to play in the off season. or you want to go to Unrivaled. go overseas and things like that.”.

She acknowledged that her own offseason included basketball decisions too—returning to Istanbul’s Fenerbahçe for a tournament in Spain. But Stewart described it as training rather than financial necessity. It also came with family logistics: the tournament was in the home country of her wife. Marta Xargay. the former Phoenix Mercury shooting guard.

Stewart said she told Marta: “You know what, let’s do it.” She added, “Give me some 5-on-5 reps after playing [in 3-on-3] Unrivaled. Be over there for a little bit.” She said the family was happy because of Spain’s location, and once the trip ended, they got back home to the Liberty.

That broader labor landscape may reach beyond the WNBA. UFC boss Dana White has faced questions about the WNBA’s new minimum salary of $270. 000. which he dismissed as “ridiculous.” In comments to Rolling Stone. White argued that UFC fighters can earn as little as $12. 000 for a single fight. and said. “First of all. if you come into the UFC. let’s say you sign a three-fight deal. we’re going to find out if you even belong in the UFC.” He added. “I should pay you $370. 000 to see if you belong in the UFC?”.

Stewart sees the WNBA’s media shift as another major win tied to the labor progress. She credited the league’s momentum in media deals and exposure as something that only became possible after the agreement. She pointed to prior negotiations in other sports. including the National Women’s Soccer League and its collective-bargaining agreement. describing them as a “blueprint” for what female athletes want—valuation.

Labor peace, Stewart said, also gave the WNBA room to grow. She said she was “happy that we finally leveled up and are at a starting point where we can continue to grow, even seven years from now.”

With that secured, Stewart’s immediate basketball challenge is far more routine, even if the stakes are anything but. The Liberty are 5-4 entering the week, and the next task is getting the team back on track as the summer calendar crowds in.

The WNBA is competing for attention against Major League Baseball, tennis, golf, the World Cup, and a crowded UFC schedule. Yet Stewart said the league is positioned differently now because it secured an 11-year media rights deal worth at least $281 million annually. with the potential for further bonuses. The WNBA’s next exposure phase includes expansion across NBC, USA, Peacock, and Amazon Prime Video.

Stewart tied it to measurable pressure: making sure the league “crushes” the media deal. gaining viewership and attendance because the deal itself could get even better throughout the term of the collective-bargaining agreement. “The TV deal can potentially get even better throughout the term of the CBA. which can also make the money even better. ” she said.

Even when she’s not on a court or in a boat, New York is still the pressure point. Stewart said the city already carries its own weight. “I think that you feel pressure when you’re in New York anyways,” she said. “I just think it’s really cool that there’s so many events going on. and I hope to be able to go to as many of them as possible.”.

For Stewart, the weekend’s SailGP speed wasn’t just a detour from training. It was a reminder of the same thing she keeps returning to in her contract decisions: New York gives her options, and she’s building a path that protects her team’s future while expanding what her career can become.

Breanna Stewart New York Liberty WNBA SailGP Ewan McGregor Larry Ellison collective-bargaining agreement Sabrina Ionescu Jonquel Jones Marta Xargay Dana White