• Loading stock data...
Saturday, August 9, 2025
Tuned In returns to NYC on September 16. Hear from the biggest names in sports media. Click here to get your spot

Breanna Stewart Is Making a LeBron-Style Bet on the WNBA

  • Stewart plans to sign one-year deals until the league’s CBA is settled. 
  • The WNBPA has until Nov. 1 to opt out of its current CBA. 
Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images

One of the WNBA’s best players is taking a play from the NBA’s King.

Breanna Stewart, the New York Liberty’s star player and a two-team league champion, said she’ll continue to sign one-year deals in order to retain her flexibility and maximize her earnings with the uncertainty surrounding the WNBA’s collective bargaining agreement.

“I am under a one-year, and I’m going to sign another one-year,” Stewart said Tuesday ahead of Game 3 of the WNBA Finals. “Just so I can continue to have that kind of flexibility going forward. It’s kind of hard to tell, because you don’t know obviously if we opt in or opt out, but with the potential from the new TV deal — how does everything play into effect.”

Game 3 of the Finals is Wednesday night, with Stewart’s Liberty and the Minnesota Lynx tied 1–1 in the best-of-five series.

The WNBA players have until Nov. 1 to opt out of the current CBA, which is set to expire after the 2026 season. (Stewart is a vice president on the WNBPA executive board.) Should the union opt out, the current CBA would then expire after the 2025 season. With the league set to start a new $2 billion media-rights deal next season, salaries could start skyrocketing, meaning players signing long-term deals now could be leaving money on the table. Given Stewart’s stellar résumé, the 6-foot-4 forward has a chance to be the league’s first $1 million per year player.

The WNBA’s new media deal, an 11-year agreement, is set to roughly triple the $60 million the league annually takes in from its current agreement.

Stewart has been playing in New York on a slight discount, a one-year, $208,219 deal that allows the Liberty to have some cap flexibility and retain the core of Jonquel Jones—a fellow former MVP—and Sabrina Ionescu. The max Stewart could be playing for is $241,984 per year for four years. After signing her initial four-year rookie contract with the Seattle Storm in 2016, a two-year deal to stay in Seattle followed in 2020.  Stewart has been signing one-year deals since 2022, which was her last with the franchise that drafted her. This season is her third straight on a one-year contract and 2025 will be her fourth, assuming she follows through on her comments.  

It’s a similar approach to what LeBron James has done for roughly the past decade. Except for his initial four-year deal with the Lakers in 2018, James has regularly signed a two-year contract with a player option in the second year since he returned to Cleveland in 2014. The approach has been used as a leverage play against his teams to make sure they’re invested in title contention while he’s there and as a way to maximize his earnings. 

One-year deals allow players to capitalize on the salary cap when it increases, instead of being locked into team-friendly deals when the cap grows. (There is obviously the risk of injury; Stewart did tear her Achilles in 2019.)

“I don’t mind the one-years,” Stewart added. “I’m going to burn my core.” 

Stewart was referring to the WNBA’s “core player” rule, which is similar to the NFL’s franchise tag. Teams can designate one “core” free agent every offseason, and players can be cored only three times in their careers. Players on the core designation are eligible for a no-trade clause and a one-year supermax contract paying $241,984, although Stewart and the Liberty agreed to the lower salary last offseason so New York could afford to keep Jones.

Two more “core” designations would carry the 30-year-old Stewart well into her prime. Cored players are allowed to negotiate long-term deals with their teams if they like, but given Stewart’s approach, it doesn’t appear she will be doing that anytime soon.

Linkedin
Whatsapp
Copy Link
Link Copied
Link Copied

What to Read

Dec 14, 2019; Philadelphia, PA, USA; President Donald Trump wave during the second quarter of the game between the Navy Midshipmen and the Army Black Knights at Lincoln Financial Field

‘Political Gold’: Trump Putting His Stamp on College Sports 

Trump has embraced executive action on hot-button college sports issues.
Chad Ochocinco

Shannon Sharpe, Chad Ochocinco Settle $20 Million Defamation Suit 

It’s the second multimillion-dollar lawsuit Sharpe has settled in recent weeks.

WNBA Struggling to Prevent Repeat Dildo Incidents

The league appears to have no answers to the copycats plaguing games.

Featured Today

Inked Under Anesthesia: Athletes Getting $50,000 Tattoos

High-end studios, elite artist teams, and hours under anesthesia.
Coco Gauff at New York Liberty
August 2, 2025

How the New York Liberty Became the Hottest Ticket in Town

Once banished to the burbs, the Libs are now Brooklyn’s marquee attraction.
Las Vegas sign
July 29, 2025

College Sports Embracing Vegas After Years of Cold Shoulder

The Big Ten became the latest newcomer to Sin City.
2000, Jupiter, FL, USA; FILE PHOTO; Montreal Expos pitcher Hideki Irabu in action on the mound against the New York Mets at Roger Dean Stadium during Spring Training
July 28, 2025

Dead Sports Franchises Are Alive and Well on Twitter

The Expos, Sonics, and Whalers have active social media accounts.

LAFC’s Record Son Deal Brings Global Buzz and Local Pride

Los Angeles has the largest Korean community in the country.
Apr 6, 2025; Miami, Florida, USA; Marc Leishman (center) celebrates with his teammates after winning the final round of the LIV Golf Miami golf tournament at Trump National Doral.
August 7, 2025

Trump Golf Courses Secure 2026 Stops on LIV, PGA

For the fifth consecutive year, LIV golf returns to a Trump course.
DiJonai Carrington
August 7, 2025

This WNBA Trade Deadline Could Be League’s Last Snoozer

A new CBA could give GMs more flexibility.
Sponsored

Hottest Matchups Following NFL Schedule Release

The NFL released the 2025 regular-season schedule, and anticipation is already building in the ticket marketplace with four months to go.
August 7, 2025

More Dildo Throwing During WNBA Games Leads to Second Arrest

The 18-year-old threw a dildo that hit another fan and his young niece.
August 7, 2025

Smelling Salts Not Banned in the NFL, but Teams Can’t Hand Them..

Teams are banned from supplying smelling salts to their players.
August 6, 2025

US Open Breaks Prize Money Record, Still Leads All Grand Slams

The total 2025 US Open prize money is $85 million.
Diana Taurasi
August 6, 2025

Diana Taurasi Warns Against WNBA Work Stoppage 

Taurasi saw several key negotiations in her legendary career.