Breanna Stewart has won at every level, all around the world.
In college, at UConn, where she won four national championships and was named Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA Tournament on all four occasions.
On the global stage, where she won her third Olympic gold medal this summer in Paris and has won three FIBA World Cups with Team USA.
In overseas pro competition, where her teams twice won the prestigious EuroLeague championship.
And in the world’s best league, the WNBA, where she is now a three-time champion after she led the Liberty — a marquee original franchise in her home state — to its first title, a signature triumph that can stand above all the rest.
“I’ve been manifesting this moment for a while, and there’s no feeling like it,” Stewart said in the aftermath of the exhilarating Game 5 victory over the Minnesota Lynx in Brooklyn.
It’s the feeling the North Syracuse native was chasing when she left the Seattle Storm after seven years and two rings to accept the challenge of bringing a crown to New York.
“Winning in Seattle was amazing, and nothing takes away from that. But to be able to bring the first ever [championship] to the Liberty and the first [in New York City] in 51 years …,” Stewart said.
“My first WNBA game I ever went to was at MSG, was the Liberty, and to have that be full circle was amazing.”
Stewart, still just 30, has a credible case as the all-time greatest winner in women’s basketball.
“Sometimes when I think about my résumé, I think, ‘Oh, pretty good, you know? Done a lot. But still wanting to do more,’ ” Stewart told The Post last year. “If I think about legacy, I want to be thought of as a winner. But also a good person.”
Stewart burnished her résumé with an MVP award in 2023 (her second), and when her regular-season performance slipped slightly in 2024 (20.4 points, 8.5 rebounds, All-Defensive First Team, third in MVP voting), it was only by her lofty standards.
Then came the white-knuckle ride through the Finals: the missed free throw that doomed the Liberty in a Game 1 collapse; a 30-point, 11-rebound masterpiece in the Game 3 comeback, during which she yelled in the huddle, “We are not losing this game,” only there was another word before losing; and, oh, that Game 5, when she shot poorly, swished two fouls shots with the season on the line and dragged her team across the finish line.
WNBA Finals Game 5 win. Michelle Farsi/New York Post
“Today, like throughout my whole day, everybody was texting me, like, ‘How are you? You ready?’ ” Stewart said after Game 5. “And I was calm, I was ready, because I knew that no matter what, the city was gonna have our back. And they showed up, and they showed out, and they continue to be there for us when we need. And I’m so proud of this team, but so happy to be able to bring the first championship here because the city deserves it.”
She arrived at Barclays Center in the winter of 2023 wearing a Yankees-themed overcoat.
She made her merry way through the building Sunday night wearing champagne goggles adorned with the logo of Puma, maker of her signature sneaker.
“What ultimately helped me decide on New York, obviously, [it’s] closer to home. I had roots here. But I want to be surrounded by greatness,” Stewart had said that day last year at her introductory press conference. “When you look at these people up here [on the podium], and the many people that are a part of the Liberty organization, everybody wants to be better. Everybody wants to continue to raise the standard and move the needle.”
Mission accomplished.
“We talked about it two years ago, when it was free agency,” Stewart said Sunday, in between sips of Moët. “We wanted to come together, and you look back and me, JJ [Jonquel Jones], Sloot [Courtney Vandersloot], we all came here to win a championship, and last year we lost in the Finals.
“But, look, we’re here. Can’t wait to celebrate. See me at the parade.”