This week, the New York Liberty’s Breanna Stewart and Courtney Vandersloot go back to the cities that, until this season, defined their WNBA careers. In both cases, these will be bittersweet visits for fans of the Seattle Storm and Chicago Sky.
New York plays at Seattle on Tuesday (9 p.m. ET, ESPN2) and at Chicago on Friday, and both players seem likely to get warm welcomes. Stewart was the Storm’s No. 1 draft pick in 2016, and played at an MVP level there for six years (she missed the 2019 season with an Achilles injury). She was a key factor in Seattle’s 2018 and 2020 WNBA titles.
Vandersloot was even more ensconced in Chicago simply by being there longer. The No. 3 pick in the 2011 draft, she became one of the best point guards in WNBA history during her 12 seasons with the Sky. The 2021 championship was the team’s highlight, and also seemed like the basketball gods’ payoff to Vandersloot for her loyalty to the franchise.
Their moves to the Liberty as free agents made sense for both for different reasons. For Stewart, it’s a…
