Breanna Stewart's first year with the New York Liberty has gone spectacularly. Adding to her career-high 23.0 points per game, New York's Commissioner's Cup win and a historic 32-8 regular-season record is the second MVP award of her legendary career.

The WNBA announced that Stewart has won the league's 2023 MVP award, becoming the first Liberty player in franchise history to take home the honor.

Breanna Stewart, who also took home the AP Player of the Year award and was named to the WNBA's All-Defensive First Team, narrowly edged out Connecticut Sun superstar Alyssa Thomas for the award, winning by just seven points while receiving three fewer first-place votes. Last year's MVP, A'ja Wilson of the Las Vegas Aces, came in a close third, trailing Thomas by just six points. It was the closest MVP race in league history.

“Stewie’s first season with the New York Liberty has been nothing short of historic on every level,” said Liberty general manager Jonathan Kolb in a statement from the team. “The constant resiliency, belief, selflessness, toughness, and professionalism she has brought to the Liberty on a nightly basis is an incredibly rare combination – culminating in such a special season, both personally and collectively. We could not be more thrilled for Stewie to receive the highest individual honor in our game, which is incredibly deserved, and for her to continue propelling both our organization and the WNBA to new levels.”

In the 2023 season, Stewart ranked second in points per game and third in rebounds per game (9.3) while tying for third in blocks per game (1.6) also averaging a career-best 3.8 assists per game. She scored a franchise-record and career-high 45 points in her home opener with the Liberty. She also tallied a career-best 20 double-doubles and set a career-high in threes made per game with 2.1 while shooting 35.5 percent from downtown.

The Liberty defeated the Washington Mystics in their first playoff series of 2023 and trail the Sun 1-0 in the best-of-five semifinals series. Stewart, who came to New York with aspirations of leading the team to its first-ever title, will look to lead her squad to victory in Game 2 on Tuesday night.