After Olivia Miles’ flagrant foul sent Breanna Stewart to the free-throw line in Game 2 of the Minnesota Lynx-New York Liberty series, the home crowd at Barkley Center erupted in chants of “MVP!” “MVP!”  Stewart, as usual, didn’t shy away from pressure as she made both her free throws. Stewart is so confident in her ability that the external noise around her not being in the conversation is like water off a duck’s back for her. But recently, a WNBA broadcaster defended Stewart’s MVP case, but also explained why she’s been left off the list. 

“Stewie isn’t that far removed from a championship and could do a lot with a run this year,” said WNBA broadcaster Robin Lundberg on his YouTube channel. “Nonetheless, she certainly belonged in the MVP conversation…She really doesn’t need Ted Lasso to tout her or say that she’s been overlooked. She seems pretty adamant about her own status.”

Breanna Stewart recently spoke to American actor and star of the comedy series Ted Lasso, Jason Sudeikis, and her comments reflected how much confidence she exudes. And Sudeikis supported her claim. As the 2026 WNBA season is already at the semifinals stage, the MVP conversation is heating up, making the timing of Stewart’s bid becomes even more important.

And her numbers back her conviction. The calm, collected floor general for the New York Liberty has been very efficient on both sides of the floor in the three postseason games she has played so far this season. When the stakes are at their highest, Stewart brings the energy.

Breanna Stewart is currently leading the team in points (24.7 PPG), steals (2.3 SPG), as well as blocks (2.3 BPG). And this is not the first time she has been the primary scorer for the Liberty in the postseason. Across the last three seasons, Stewart has led the Liberty in scoring in the playoffs. 

After losing the final two regular-season games to the Atlanta Dream, fans might have thought that Stewart and the Liberty would get swept as they faced the top-seeded team in the league for the opening round. But Stewart would not allow a repeat of last year’s playoffs, when the Liberty lost in the first round to Phoenix after going up 1-0.

Led by Stewart, the team proved all the haters wrong this season, as they overcame the Lynx in a clean, 2-0 sweep to move to the semifinals, becoming the first-ever eighth seed to overcome a first seed in WNBA playoff history. More recently, the 32-year-old veteran opened up about why she thought she was not being included in the MVP conversation this year while in conversation with Sudeikis.

“I think people, they just get used to me being great all the time…It’s a standard, and it’s expected. So when I do it all the time, it’s not like that same brightness because it’s just consistently bright.”

But while there are several factors that contribute to her being in the MVP conversation, Lundberg pointed out one stat that could justify why she is not on the list.

“I would say the one flaw in her game right now is the three-point shooting,” said Lundberg.  “If you look earlier in her career, she used to shoot the three ball pretty well. And now she just doesn’t, you know; it was up close to 40% or the high 30s, and it’s fallen off a cliff.”

Between 2017 and 2022, when she was on the Seattle Storm roster, Stewart was shooting a very efficient 37.32% from three, with her highest coming in 2018 (41.5%). This was also the time when she won her first two championships (2018 & 2020). But during the last three seasons with the Liberty, that metric seems to have taken a sharp decline, with her averaging 26.33% from three over all three seasons. She ranked 76th for her three-point percentage this regular season, averaging 25.4% from three.

In contrast, the other MVP candidates, A’ja Wilson and Kelsey Mitchell, averaged 40.4% and 45% from three in the regular season, respectively, both significantly higher than Stewart. But apart from this one metric, Stewart is still one of the very best in the league. And it’s not just her saying this. Even her college coach agrees that when the going gets tough, Stewart gets going. 

Geno Auriemma claims Breanna Stewart can lead the Liberty to another championship this season

If anyone knows what it is to win, it’s Geno Auriemma. Having led the UConn Huskies to 12 NCAA Championships in his 41 seasons with the team, Coach Auriemma knows how much a title means to Breanna Stewart.

After all, Stewart won a championship every year she played under Auriemma at UConn. 

“When they got the eighth seed, I thought, ‘I don’t think that’s right,’ ” Auriemma said Thursday at Big East Media Day. “All [of Stewart’s] success has prepared her for what she’s doing now. And you saw it at the Olympics when everybody started questioning, ‘Well, maybe this is the year France is going to get them. Blah, blah, blah.’ And I thought to myself, ‘You can’t question that kid during the playoffs when there’s a medal or there’s a trophy that goes to the winner.’”

As Stewart brought home the 2026 FIBA MVP award, she became the only player in FIBA history to win the accolade twice. The first half saw the USA trail by 14 points before Caitlin Clark hit a clutch three-pointer just before halftime. Then Stewart reassumed her position as floor general, and Team USA went on an incredible 11-2 run, making the score 54-47 in their favor. 

And according to Auriemman, Breanna Stewart will still be hungry for more.

The Liberty are facing the Atlanta Dream, led by Angel Reese and Rhyne Howard, in a series where they are already down 1-0. Stewart was held to 19 points, shooting 6-of-13 from the field. Liberty fans will hope that the Liberty can rally around Stewart once again to equalize the series as they face the Dream for Game 2 at State Farm Arena tonight.