Set for year two of Unrivaled and year four in Brooklyn, Breanna Stewart has used the New York Liberty’s early elimination to her advantage.
Breanna Stewart wasn’t letting a lack of a modern championship keep her out of Disneyland.
The New York Liberty star closed out the year in the happiest place with the happiest company, spending December in Disneyland Paris with her wife, Marta Xargay, and their children, Ruby and Theo. It was a last dance of sorts for Stewart, who returns to both the court and the boardroom as a star and leader of Unrivaled, the domestic 3×3 league she co-founded with former Finals foe Napheesa Collier.
Like the crocodile that served as Captain Hook’s nemesis in the Disney classic “Peter Pan,” Stewart has a new weapon on her side: time.
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“I’m really happy with where I’m at,” Stewart, stationed in Miami for Unrivaled’s second season premiere, said with a smile, possibly recalling the good times had in France. “I think, as far as the way that my season ended, obviously not happy with the Liberty [campaign] and what happened, but it gave me time. It gave me time to be off from the court and really work on my body, and I think just really getting the fluidity and the flow back.
“I just go back to myself, what I’m happy about, and knowing that, like, everything is working together, in tandem, to just give me the rhythm that I need. So I’m going to be confident going into Unrivaled and really just getting back to myself. That’s my main idea, but having confidence in my shot is huge.”
The basketball court offered Stewart more twists and turns than any mouse-branded rollercoaster ever could in 2025.
Fresh off a physical Unrivaled debut, Stewart was a headliner of the Liberty’s first postseason championship defense, which earned wins in its nine showings before injuries— including one to Stewart— took their toll. Despite Stewart’s best efforts, which saw her score the last 14 points of the Liberty season, New York was a first-round exit thanks to the WNBA Finals-bound Phoenix Mercury.
Balancing Recovery with CBA Negotiations
To top it all off, Stewart is one of the main negotiators representing the WNBA players’ side at the collective bargaining agreement table. That battle figures to stretch into 2026, especially with Players Association members granting the executive board the authority to call a strike “when necessary” on Thursday.
Domestic and international courts alike are familiar with Stewart’s sneakers. Mere minutes before she spoke in Miami, she hinted that she was on the floor with former Liberty assistant coach Zach O’Brien, who now takes over clipboard control of Stewart’s Unrivaled squad, Mist BC.
It was time away from the floor, however, that could prove to be Stewart’s latest power-up as she goes for wins on the hardwood and in labor contracts.
“I can’t tell you the last time where I was just not on the basketball court for a month,” Stewart recalled. “I think between being hurt after 2024, the Finals, trying to play through that in Unrivaled last year, then getting a surgery, then rushing back to play, I didn’t give myself the proper time to kind of really heal. So [this offseason] I was able to take a step back and feel better and then move forward.”
While Stewart and her mates on Mist will once again open the Unrivaled circuit, she has a little extra time to cherish her final offseason hours: Mist BC, which features newcomers like Veronica Burton, Arike Ogunbowale, and Alanna Smith, will tip off against expansion squad Hive BC on Jan. 5.
Geoff Magliocchetti is on X @GeoffJMags
