The New York Liberty made a huge splash in free agency over the course of the past week with the signing of WNBA champions Breanna Stewart and Courtney Vandersloot.
Following a season that saw the Liberty bow out of the playoffs in the first round to the Chicago Sky, the ball was in the organization's court to improve the roster this offseason, and it delivered by bringing in a two-time champion and former MVP in Stewart, as well as a former champion and top-three assists leader in Vandersloot.
“Today is a historic day for the New York Liberty organization and fanbase,” said Liberty General Manager Jonathan Kolb.
“Stewie and Sloot are winners and choosing the Liberty in free agency shows that we’re all in on our commitment to bring a championship to New York. Both players are among the league’s all-time greats, consummate teammates, and high-character individuals.
As a native of Syracuse, New York, the 28-year-old Stewart will be making her grand return to her home state after playing six seasons with the Seattle Storm — where she helped win a pair of WNBA championships in 2018 and 2020.
Thus far into her young career, the former number one draft pick has multiple accolades to her name, which includes: 2016 Rookie of the Year, 2018 WNBA MVP, two Finals MVP awards, four WNBA All-Star appearances, four All-WNBA First Team selections, and a spot on the WNBA's all-time top 25 players list.
The 6-4 forward sports impressive career averages of 20.3 points, 8.6 rebounds, 1.5 blocks, and 1.3 steals per game.
The 34-year-old Vandersloot comes to New York after spending 12 seasons with the Chicago Sky. During her time with Chicago, the 5-8 point guard was able to guide the team to its first ever championship in 2018.
Similar to Stewart, Vandersloot also has a spectacular resume that includes: four-time WNBA All-Star, two-time All-WNBA First Team selections, set the single-season assist record three times (2018, 2019, 2021), league leader in total assists during five separate seasons (2015, 2018-21).
Over the course of her career, Vandersloot averages 10.3 points, 6.7 assist, 3.2 rebounds, and 1.3 steals per game.
The veteran forward currently sits third all-time for total assists, with 2,385 in 12 seasons of action. She trails behind the second-place Ticha Penicheiro by only 215 assists coming into the 2023 season.
If she is able to maintain a pace similar to her career assists average this season, Vandersloot will have a good shot of making history and leapfrogging into second place all-time this season.
The details of both Stewart's and Vandersloot's contracts have yet to be announced.
