Breanna Stewart, Napheesa Collier putting business aside in quest for WNBA glory

Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier co-founded the new 3-on-3 women’s league, Unrivaled, which is slated to begin play in January. But the former UConn teammates first are facing off in this year’s WNBA Finals. Stewart, the 2023 league MVP, is seeking the third championship of her career, but her first in two seasons with the Liberty after losing to the Las Vegas Aces in the title round last year. Collier, the runner-up in MVP balloting this year behind Vegas’ A’ja Wilson, was a freshman while Stewart was a senior on the Huskies’ four-peat NCAA championship squad in 2016, the most recent for Geno Auriemma’s storied program. “My first impression of Phee was she was this versatile kid coming to UConn in pickup [games], long and lanky and kind of just, like, not sure exactly where we were supposed to be going,” Stewart, a two-time champion with the Seattle Storm in 2018 and 2020, said one day ahead of the series opener Thursday night at Barclays Center.“To see her go from that to where she is now, the growth and the maturity is something that never ceases to amaze me. “She was my freshman, so for anybody who understands what I’m saying, you’re so proud of their growth.” Collier, the 2019 WNBA Rookie of the Year after she was selected sixth overall in the draft by the Lynx, has finished in the top five in MVP voting three times in the past five years.

The 6-foot-1 forward also was named the league’s top defensive player this season, and she also was a teammate of Stewart’s and Liberty guard Sabrina Ionescu’s for Team USA’s gold-medal victory this summer at the Paris Olympics. “When she was still at school, we probably didn’t talk as much because it’s like a bridge of time,” Stewart said.“As she’s been in the league, her being a mom, and obviously with USA Basketball, being business partners together, we’ve definitely built a bond or kind of rekindled it since college.

“I’m happy to see all the success that sh...