For the first time since undergoing knee surgery, Breanna Stewart fully participated in a Liberty training camp practice on Tuesday.
“It’s really good when we can get our best player back,” Liberty head coach Sandy Brondello said after practice. “She looks great. We’ll keep building her up over these next days and make sure she’s feeling comfortable getting into that first game.”
Stewart remains on track to participate in the Liberty’s season opener against the Las Vegas Aces at Barclays Center on May 17. The first milestone was getting the two-time MVP back on the Barclays Center practice court after undergoing a minor scope on her right meniscus in March.
The star forward underwent the procedure shortly after the inaugural season of Unrivaled, the 3-on-3 winter basketball league Stewart co-founded alongside Lynx star Napheesa Collier.
In 14 games played during the new league’s season, Stewart averaged 19.1 points, 11.0 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.2 steals for the Mist.
In March, Liberty sources told the Daily News that Stewart would be back on court during training.
Now that box is checked. Next is making sure the knee is ready to go in time for the opener against A’ja Wilson’s Aces squad.
That checkpoint looks like it’ll be cleared, too.
“She’s ready to go,” Brondello said.
Stewart now is entering her ninth WNBA season and participating in her third Liberty camp.
It’s a different group in camp, considering the absences of Betnijah Laney-Hamilton (injury), Courtney Vandersloot (left via free agency) and Kayla Thornton (left via expansion draft). Stewart, though, isn’t letting the obstacles get in front of a title defense that begins in less than two weeks.
“We’re just locked in to whose here now,” she said. “The good, the bad, the different — like obviously feeling for [Laney-Hamilton] for having to be out and gonna miss Sloot — but that’s the difference of one season to the next.”
On a positive note, new addition Natasha Cloud can help fill the void of Laney-Hamilton’s perimeter defense and veteran presence; French sparkplug Marine Johannes is participating in her first full Liberty training camp in her fourth season with the franchise; and new role players (Isabelle Harrison and Rebekah Gardner) are getting accustomed to the new team.
“Excited for the new pieces that we do have here and making sure it’s really important to get them integrated and feeling comfortable with what we do here as a team. Like culture-wise but also on the court.”
Even though Tuesday was Stewart’s own first full day, she feels the team is bringing the right energy after Day 7 of camp.
“I think camp has been really intense. I think very intentional,” she said. “Making sure that people are aware of the spacing. Not having back-to-back drives, [knowing] when we’re cutting, where we’re cutting, why we’re cutting. There’s a reason behind all the madness.”
