Breanna Stewart has imposed her will on the WNBA since her debut in 2016. Through nine seasons, she has won three WNBA championships and has two MVP awards to go along with that. No matter what happens for the rest of her career, she is a winner. That said, she carried that identity long before before stepping foot in the WNBA.
Advertisement
Stewart had a legendary college career at UConn. Despite achieving amazing feats, one of her final celebratory meals at university didn’t reflect her superstardom.
Nowadays, college athletes thrive off of NIL deals. We see in both the men’s and women’s games plenty of players elect to stay extra years since they earn more money than if they were to declare for the draft. That is more so the case in the women’s basketball.
Chicago Sky star Angel Reese is currently on a four-year deal worth $324,383. During her final season at LSU, the star forward’s NIL deal was worth approximately $1.8 million.
Unfortunately, Stewart didn’t play in a time when NIL was a thing. As a result, she couldn’t capitalize on the same advantages as someone like Reese. Considering she won four straight National Championships, her valuation would’ve been through the roof.
WNBA All-Star and former UConn. teammate of Stewart, Gabby Williams, revealed the lengths they had to go due to their financial shortcomings.
“We’re getting all this media coverage, and when we came back, we were like, ‘What we got to eat?'” Williams said on the Club 520 Podcast. “I was like, ‘We got minute rice and some frozen vegetables.’ That’s what we made for our celebratory dinner.”
Former NBA All-Star Jeff Teague couldn’t believe his ears. Although he never won a National Championship while attending Wake Forest, he experienced better treatment for lesser achievements.
“At Wake Forest, when we beat Duke, they had everything opened like come eat for free,” Teague proclaimed.
One would assume that after a National Championship, restaurants in the area would welcome the team with open arms, especially after winning an NCAA record four titles in a row. Instead, Williams found herself trying to make ends meet to get a little money in her pockets.
“This was illegal, but I was selling my shoes and UConn stuff, trying to grab some extra money,” Williams revealed.
Players such as Williams and Stewart paved the way, so now the next generation doesn’t have to endure those same hardships. The entire landscape of college sports is different, thanks to NIL.
