After New York Liberty defeated Las Vegas 76-62 in Game 4 of the 2024 WNBA playoffs semifinals, Breanna Stewart got real about her motivation to reach another final and end the Aces’ chances at a three-peat.
Stewart explained that her biggest motivator ahead of the series against the Aces was honoring the memory of her wife Marta’s father, who died over a year ago. However, she also didn’t forget what the Aces said at their expense after winning the WNBA championship last season.
“Just the way that the series went last year, kinda going through all of that. And making sure that this year is different. And continue to, Marta and I talked about doing everything her dad wanted us to do. And we continue to do that,” she explained.
Then, she also added “And I have receipts for all the things that were said. The entire team does. My mentality today was to go in and get this win for my wife and her dad.” Stewart led both teams in the semifinals in scoring with 21.8 points per game, 8.0 rebound per game and 4.5 assists per game.
Last year, Aces coach Becky Hammon mocked Stewart during the championship parade. “3 for 17, you need to talk about it,” said Hammon at the time about Stewart’s performance. Meanwhile, Aces guard Kelsey Plum also criticized the Liberty last year, saying that, despite having great “individualities,” they weren’t really a “team,” even suggesting “they don’t care about each other.”
Hammon admits they talked ‘a lot of smack’
This year, the Liberty have been the best team all season, winning their return to the WNBA Finals thanks to the talent of stars such as Stewart, Sabrina Ionescu and Jonquel Jones.
“We talked a lot of smack last year, I’m sure they heard it. And they got to smack us,” said Aces coach Hammon, as reported by Lucas Kaplan. “They’ve been the best team all year. Let’s be real. Their group earned it. They earned it all year,” she admitted, according to Alexa Philippou of ESPN.