New York Liberty star Breanna Stewart has been in the WNBA for eight years now. She has seen a lot of tough play over the years and spoke recently about it since it dominated online basketball discourse recently.

Physicality has been a frequent topic of discussion ever since Chicago Sky guard Chennedy Carter pushed Caitlin Clark from behind. Even though Clark herself was getting a bit chippy and has carried herself with a fiery, brash boldness on the court, the popular narrative was that she was being picked on excessively and unfairly.

When asked about the tough play of the league, Stewart said that the WNBA brings out the best in every player and that physicality is part of the game.

“This is the best league in the world and nobody’s going to give you anything easy,” the Liberty star said. “Understanding that and learning how to play through it. This level, they’re the fastest, the strongest, the quickest. That's why this is the WNBA. Continue to pay attention to what we do, understand that we're trying to bring our best basketball when we’re playing against other teams. We're obviously trying to win but knowing that as a collective, we're continuing to bring this league to a better place altogether. ”

A league with only 144 roster spots and no minor league indeed means that the W features the absolute top tier of players. The competitiveness is a given — and that’s what makes it so fun.

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Liberty's Breanna Stewart talks about WNBA physicality after Caitlin Clark, Chennedy Carter incident

To many fans, Clark has been unfairly targeted out of jealousy. But in reality, Clark is the new rising star in a highly competitive, physical league. Carter’s foul was excessive, for sure, but not entirely out of the ordinary on a basketball court. Just because Clark is instantly a new face of the league doesn’t mean opposing players have to let her off easy. The entire point about sports is that it isn’t scripted, that players get fired up. If players gave Clark any type of special treatment, such as not playing her as physically as they do others, it would be more demeaning to the league.

The WNBA has always required toughness. Players are often getting tangled up and raising the levels of pushing and shoving. This isn’t all that different from previous eras of the NBA. Would fans of the 1980s have been in an uproar when Larry Bird and Magic Johnson, the two new faces of the league, got fouled hard? It’s hard to imagine they would. Plenty of other WNBA greats, like Candace Parker, got into their share of fights and confrontations over the years.

Stewart explaining to new fans that the WNBA is actually a competitive league and that players always try to bring their best is hopefully something she doesn’t have to do much longer. She and the Liberty are looking to win the championship and will surely be involved in plenty of hard-fought games and heated moments along the way.