NEW YORK — The Big Apple is known for its unrelenting pace, but one of the central scenes of the New York Liberty‘s blockbuster free agency came some 5,000 miles away, during a two-hour boat ride where no one was in a hurry.
One morning in late January, Clara Wu Tsai, Liberty co-owner and co-governor, and WNBA superstar Breanna Stewart took a morning voyage through the Bosphorus Strait in Turkey with Stewart’s wife, Marta Xargay Casademont, and their 21-month-old daughter, Ruby. The Liberty sent a delegation, including Wu Tsai, general manager Jonathan Kolb, assistant GM Ohemaa Nyanin and coach Sandy Brondello to Istanbul to woo unrestricted free agent Stewart — who was competing with Turkish club Fenerbahce during the WNBA offseason. Following several meetings with the former MVP, the rest of the Liberty contingent left the country, leaving Wu Tsai, Stewart and her family together.
During their boat ride, they talked about the league, about the surrounding sites, even their…
