Breanna Stewart won her first WNBA MVP award last season as she led the Seattle Storm to a WNBA championship in a sweep of the Washington Mystics in the Finals — where she also earned Finals MVP honors.
Like many WNBA stars, Stewart plays overseas in the offseason for Dynamo Kursk in Russia and led them to the EuroLeague Women’s Final Four championship game on Sunday. Stewart’s squad was matched up against UMMC Ekaterinburg, also from Russia, which features fellow WNBA stars like Britney Griner, Kayla McBride, and Courtney Vandersloot, and trailed by 16 late in the second quarter.
Stewart curled off a dribble handoff action at the elbow and rose for a jumper over a closeout from Griner. Unfortunately, Stewart landed on Griner’s foot and collapsed to the floor, immediately grabbing at the back of her right ankle.
breanna stewart landed on brittney griners foot during the euroleague title game and looked in serious pain
not clear if it was ankle or knee but she was helped off the floor and put no weight on it pic.twitter.com/AO8ecTLtgJ
— #1 WNBA PODCAST (ON HIATUS) (@WEREONLIVE) April 14, 2019
She would be helped off the floor by her teammates and while there has not been an official update offered on her injury, there is a report that she suffered an Achilles injury on the play.
Hearing achilles injury for Stewart. This is a huge blow to not only the @seattlestorm but also the @WNBA #wbb #wnba
— Winsidr (@Winsidr) April 14, 2019
As basketball fans are all too aware of, Achilles injuries are notoriously difficult to come back from and typically take a year of rehab at least. If that is the case, it’s a brutal loss for the Storm and the WNBA as a whole if the reigning MVP isn’t able to play this season.
Stewart is one of the most dominant players in the league and at 24 years old seemed primed to be a force for years to come in the WNBA. Hopefully she will be able to come back from this injury and continue her ascent to firmly holding the title of the best women’s basketball player on the planet, but it will be a long road back to get there.
