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For her eighth year in the league, after a successful seven in Seattle, Stewart is back in her home state and has led the Liberty to the No. 2 seed this season, also becoming the first player in team history to win the league MVP, an honor with which she was awarded Tuesday night.

\"Hearing all of that and being the first Liberty player to win MVP is an amazing honor and I'm lucky to be the first,\" Stewart said, adding that the season gave her \"goose bumps.\"

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\"It's one of the founding franchises here and [we're] continuing to put the Liberty on the map and chase a championship, because they've never won one and that's our goal,\" she continued. \"We want to get to that point where we can have the whole city behind us and celebrate women's basketball and the WNBA in a different way than it has before.\"

Remarking on the tight race for this year's MVP title against Las Vegas Aces star A'ja Wilson and Connecticut Sun forward Alyssa Thomas, Stewart explained that she thinks \"it says how incredible this league is and how amazing all of these women basketball players are.\"

\"PHOTO:
Wendell Cruz/USA TODAY Sports via Reuters
PHOTO: New York Liberty forward Breanna Stewart drives past Connecticut Sun forward Olivia Nelson-Ododa during game one of the 2023 WNBA Playoffs at Barclays Center, Sept. 24, 2023, in New York.
>

\"They've had dominant seasons,\" she said. \"The fact that three of us can really try to uplift this league together and continue to be great, women's sports are going places. We've known that for a long time, but now everybody else is seeing it. And we're continuing to raise the bar.\"

Stewart stunned Liberty and women's basketball fans when she started the season off by setting a league record with 45 points in 30 minutes. She also notched three games with 40 points and 10 rebounds, and averaged a career high 23 points.

\"Life has changed a lot from 2018 to 2023,\" Stewart said of her progression and upward trajectory on the court over the past several years, citing support from \"family\" including \"my wife Marta [and] my daughter Ruby.\"

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As for what the future holds, the former University of Connecticut Husky said she hopes to \"[continue] to be great no matter what happens, no matter where I am, making sure that I show everyone how it is to be great and bring greatness around me.\"

Stewart said she has held onto wise words from competitors in other arenas to motivate her in her game, most recently taking wisdom from 19-year-old tennis star Coco Gauff, who took home the U.S. Open women's title for the first time earlier this month.

\"PHOTO:
Ethan Miller/Getty Images
PHOTO: Breanna Stewart of the New York Liberty hands the championship trophy to teammate Nyara Sabally after the team's victory in the 2023 Commissioner's Cup Championship game at Michelob ULTRA Arena, Aug. 15, 2023, in Las Vegas.
>

\"The fact that people thought they were pouring water on her fire, but they were pouring gas ... that's what I felt,\" Stewart said, referencing Gauff's comments after her win (\"To those who thought they were putting water on my fire, you were really adding gas to it\").

\"It's an amazing time for women's sports,\" she added. \"We're in a spot where we want to have positive support and with that comes negative ... not everybody is going to be on my side, but I'm still going to shine bright.\"

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