When Breanna Stewart missed clutch free throws in game 1 of the WNBA Finals, the Liberty’s fate seemed doomed. After all, here was the best player on the best team in the league, and she’d missed the two shots that would’ve handed them a 1-0 lead. Stewie knew she’d have to take responsibility for the loss that day, and yesterday, she spoke to Candace Parker about how that leadership instinct ingrained itself in her game.
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On Parker’s new Trophy Room podcast, the 3x champion revealed her college coach Geno Auriemma taught her the importance of taking ownership. She claimed Geno wanted her to feel responsible for everything that happened on the court, regardless of whether she could control it or not. The 2x MVP said,
“I mean taking ownership kind of came from Coach Auriemma, came from UConn. And I just remember having a conversation with him at one point in my career and he was like, ‘No matter what happens on the court, it’s your fault.’ And I was like I’m in college I’m like, ‘Okay.'”
Both Stewie and Parker laughed at that, but the UConn alum said she understood her coach’s words as she grew and matured into the player she is today.
“But as you get older, you understand why things are said that way, and no matter what was happening in that game I could take it on me because I can take it. I missed that free throw to win the game, but that’s the position I wanna be in. I wanna be the one taking those free throws, and knowing that the next one I’m gonna make. But if I miss it, I’m gonna make it the next time.”
And make it the next time she did. In the deciding game 5, Stewart stepped to the line with 5 seconds left in regulation to force OT. Later in OT, she was sent to the line again, and with 10 seconds to go converted both her free throws to put the Liberty up 67-62. Her clutch shooting gave the home side some breathing space and sealed the championship.
After the game, she spoke to Holly Rowe and claimed her misses from earlier in the series served as motivation this time around. “You know I missed it earlier in the series, and I knew I was gonna make it. I knew I was gonna make it for this city.”
Breanna Stewart led the Liberty to their first title in franchise history and her third as a player. It was a fairytale ending to a dominant season for the kid from New York.
