money Breanna Stewart won another championship just days after securing gold in Tokyo - and 'proper recovery' was the key
Breanna Stewart led the Storm to a WNBA Commissioner's Cup title and won the tournament's MVP award.
Days earlier, she won gold with USA Basketball at the Olympics, earning MVP honors for her efforts.
Stewart told Insider that she's put an emphasis on "proper recovery," enabling quick turn-arounds.
Breanna Stewart can't stop winning.
Just five days after winning a gold medal with USA Basketball at the Olympics, the 6-foot-4 WNBA superstar rejoined her Seattle Storm squad on the hardwood in Phoenix - approximately 5,777 miles away from Tokyo. Despite the jet lag and fatigue left over from her Olympics campaign, Stewart led all scorers to fuel her squad's dominant victory in the inaugural WNBA Commissioner's Cup.
And for the second time in less than a week, the 26-year-old earned MVP honors for her stellar efforts in a championship game.
Winning back-to-back titles is nothing new for Stewart; she and European powerhouse UMMC Ekaterinburg won this year's EuroLeague and Russian Premier League titles nine days removed from one another. And like this time around, Stewart walked away with MVP awards from both showings.
But the transition from the Tokyo competition to Thursday's Commissioner's Cup final was different in a few key ways. Stewart played for two different teams, on two different continents, and with two different sets of rules with mere days to adjust. Still, she was the best player on the court in both outings.
Stewart's teammate for both club and country - WNBA legend Sue Bird - jokingly said her trick to overcoming exhaustion ahead of Thursday's matchup was "a lot of champagne." But Stewart credits her readiness in large part to "proper recovery" - and Therabody has been one of her most steady sources on that front.
She recently invested in the health and wellness brand after relying on Theragun and RecoveryAir for bodily upkeep throughout the pandemic - when resources like masseuses and trainers were not always readily available.
"Consistency in my routine has really been key for me this time around because of the state of the world and the uncertainty around the [Olympic] games," Stewart told Insider. "Therabody helps me be my best ... and it's important for me to utilize this incredible technology available to me to maximize my potential."
"The Theragun mini is my favorite device because as I'm traveling all over the place, it's super convenient to throw in my gym bag or in my suitcase and use it on the go," she added. "RecoveryAir is something that I use literally every day because I want to make sure that my legs are flushed out and fully recovered for when it's time to perform."
Stewart said paying such close attention to her body's recovery is "honestly the most important part" of her preparation for practices and games. Like many of her peers in the WNBA, Stewart plays overseas during the offseason to supplement her income. Add in her USA Basketball responsibilities, and you can begin to see why recovery is so vital for the budding women's basketball GOAT.
She never stops. That is, unless she's forced to stop.
On April 14, 2019 - just months removed from winning her WNBA championship and Finals MVP award - Stewart suffered one of the most devastating injuries a competitive athlete can sustain when she tore her Achilles tendon overseas. The painful blow forced the then-24-year-old off the court for 15 months and, for many, cast doubt on her bright future in professional basketball.
She's come back stronger than ever, but the injury - and the time she lost on the court because of it - undoubtedly informs the way she prioritizes recovery in her daily routines some two years later.
"If I don't recover, then I'm not going to be ready for what's next," Stewart said. "... I believe recovery is one of the most important things in my routine, but not everyone understands how important it is. It seems really, really simple, but it's what allows me to be the most successful I can be on the court."
So far, so good. Since returning to the hardwood following her recovery from the Achilles tear, Stewart has won an incredible five championships in 10 months.
In addition to earning Olympic gold in Tokyo and a Commissioner's Cup title in Phoenix, the Syracuse, New York native led the Storm to a sweep of the Las Vegas Aces in the 2020 WNBA Finals. Six months later, she went on to win the 2021 EuroLeague and Russian Premier League titles with European powerhouse UMMC Ekaterinburg. And, in typical Stewie fashion, she earned MVP honors for each one.
Investing time and money into her recovery - and working with Therabody - is really more of an investment in herself.
"My basketball career is more than just one moment and one game; it's a season," Stewart said. "It's multiple years of playing and wanting to continue to improve."
"One of the most important things I talk about is my potential," she added. "I want to continue to be better and grow, and proper recovery is going to help me do that - especially when I am competing at such a high level."
Stewart is competing at such a high level. Midway through the WNBA season, she ranks top-five in points, rebounds, and blocks per game. She's the only player to appear in the top five of all three categories.
The second leg of the 2021 season will kick off on Sunday, officially ending the five-week hiatus the league took during the Olympics. Seattle currently leads the WNBA with a 16-5 record and looks poised to defend its 2020 title, but plenty of games remain before the playoffs begin on September 23.
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