Breanna Stewart plays for Liberty Legacy in Game 5 of the WNBA Finals

The New York Liberty had trouble with the officials after an 82-80 loss to the Minnesota Lynx in Game 4 of the WNBA Finals. Coach Sandy Brondello even uncharacteristically lost her temper in the postgame press conference, which was decided by Lynx free throws.

But even if they are right that the referees need to get better, the same goes for their superstar player: Breanna Stewart.

Stewart was brilliant in Liberty’s Game 3 win, but she left something to be desired in the team’s two losses in the series. Among other things, she shot just 5-for-21 when her team had a chance to close out a championship on Friday. Since many of these misses were due to shots, she usually finished inside and looked clean while jumping. She was still able to impact the game in other ways, both on the boards and on defense. But she is held to the level of a superstar.

The poor shooting performance also stems from Stewart having a chance to win Game 1 at the free throw line, where she missed the second of two shots. She then blew up a bunny at the end of overtime that would have tied the score, giving New York fans Patrick Ewing flashbacks.

Of course, Stewart’s professional resume remains unimpeachable, regardless of the outcome of this series. She went 4-4 in college at UConn and has two WNBA championships with the Seattle Storm, along with two MVPs, including one last season with the Liberty.

The problem is that Stewie didn’t get to cap her last MVP title with a title, as New York lost the 2023 Finals to the Las Vegas Aces. And Stewart was just 3-17 in the final game of that series.

A player of her caliber simply can’t follow that by not finishing the job in 2024, especially with the loaded Liberty team she’s playing with and stricken teammate Sabrina Ionescu bringing New York to the brink brought to the championship. Otherwise, she will rightly incur the ire of the WNBA and many Liberty fans for not bringing home the hardware in the big city.

Stewart and Co. will have another chance to put away the Lynx on Sunday in Brooklyn. But to do that, she has to be better than she was in the first and last games of these fantastic WNBA Finals. Your Liberty legacy depends on it.