Do we like them?

Do we like Breanna Stewart?

Our score: 8 out of 10. Consistently on the side of inclusion, immigrants and women's pay, with only some union and Unrivaled stoushes against her name.

Stewart is one of the biggest names in women's basketball. She won the 2024 WNBA title with the New York Liberty, co-founded the Unrivaled league in 2025, and captained Mist BC to Unrivaled's second championship in 2026. Hardly a dud on the court, then.

Her biggest off-court stoush this year was inside the players' union. As a union vice president she and Kelsey Plum wrote a three-page letter voicing “serious concerns” about how bargaining was being handled, and it leaked. Stewart said it was meant to stay private and backed the union's executive director. The league and players then reached a deal in principle in March, which she called “transformational”.

On the harm test, the big one this year was the trans-athlete debate. After Sophie Cunningham said she opposed trans girls and women in women's sport, and rival rallies popped up outside Barclays Center, Stewart said she wants Liberty and Fever fans to have a safe space. She said everyone is entitled to an opinion, and she didn't go after Cunningham. She also said the league should clarify its eligibility rules, so where you land depends on whether you read that as sensible or as sitting on the fence.

In January she held up an “Abolish ICE” sign at Unrivaled introductions after federal immigration officers killed a second person in Minneapolis that month. She told reporters she was “disgusted” by what she'd seen, and said the issue felt personal for her family. Conservative outlets framed it as a political stunt, while supporters saw a star using her platform for migrants. Either way, it's her own act and it's on the right side of our harm test.

She has also copped hate herself. During the 2024 Finals a homophobic death threat was emailed to her wife, and police investigated it as a possible bias incident. Stewart reported it to the team and the league, and the commissioner condemned the harassment. None of that counts against her.

The good stuff is real. The day after the ICE sign she launched the Breanna Stewart Foundation, starting in her hometown of Syracuse, to build long-term support for women and youth living in poverty, with Athletes for Impact. We found no court cases or credible allegations against her, and nothing on climate either way, so the record is clean rather than saintly. Only a fan-fuelled row over a disputed Unrivaled foul call and the union letter blot the page.