Natasha Cloud wasn’t with the New York Liberty last year, but she saw the comments about Breanna Stewart.
The former MVP will turn 31 in August, and last season, an ESPN writer wrote that she was aging out of her prime. Those conversations have continued into this year, even after Stewart helped lead the Liberty to their first WNBA championship and earned another WNBA All-Star invite in 2025.
“I wanna say, where's all that s*** that y'all was talking because even though I might have not been on the team last year, I know that y'all some s*** talkers,” Cloud said on Wednesday after the Liberty defeated the Indiana Fever, 98-77. “I know that I'm probably the only one on this team that will say something about it, but I'm happy for Stewart, man, because people are really trying to count her out coming into the season, and I think Stewie is one of the best players in the entire world.”
She certainly played like it on Wednesday. Stewart flirted with a triple-double, posting 27 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists — a stat line that only Candace Parker had ever compiled.
It was her second straight double-double as Stewart rebounded from a few uneven performances that caused the doubters to again begin voicing their concerns.
But there’s more to Stewart than what shows up on the stat sheet, according to Cloud, a WNBA veteran who has played with her share of legends.
“I've had the luxury to play with a lot of great franchise players, and Stewie is probably the most versatile out of all of them,” Cloud continued. “Stewie is like a pros pro. She comes in every single day. She's the first one in. Last one out. She does workouts before we even start our practice and then even after our practices are done, she's back to working out.”
Liberty star Breanna Stewart’s greatness starts at home
The Liberty had some unexpected visitors in practice last Saturday. As the team was wrapping up its final tune-up before facing the Atlanta Dream the next day, Stewart’s two children, Ruby and Theo, raced across the court holding a sign that read “Mommy is an All-Star,” as her wife, Marta Xargay trailed behind with flowers.
The moment went viral, and days later, Cloud pointed to the role family has played in Stewart’s continued dominance.
“I would be stupid not to give Marta her flowers too because at home you have to have someone that supports you,” she said. “With having two kids, I think it's a really special thing that they have, where Marta takes care of everything to allow her to be great for us every single day.”
Cloud added that Stewart is someone who “leads by example,” and having Xargay at home allows her to lift up her teammates.
“The hours that she puts in is more than a 9 to 5, so we really appreciate the whole family,” she said. “When you have the head of your snake doing that every single day and then follow up with [Sabrina Ionescu] and [Jonquel Jones] it just trickles.”
