Liberty’s Breanna Stewart reveals latest date she’ll return from injury

Liberty star Breanna Stewart was all smiles Sunday and said she felt “great” after she wrapped up an individual workout on the Liberty’s practice court while her teammates warmed up for New York’s game against the Lynx.

Stewart has been sidelined for the past two weeks with a bone bruise in her right knee. While she said her rehab process is going well, the team’s training staff hasn’t established a target return date.

Stewart echoed Liberty coach Sandy Brondello’s hope that the two-time league MVP will be cleared to play by the end of this month.

Stewart went as far to say that she’ll “definitely be back” before her 31st birthday on Aug. 27.

“That’s a non-negotiable,” she said. “I have to be back before my birthday.”

In the meantime, though, Stewart will have no choice but to continue to practice patience while nature runs its course.

Stewart left the Liberty’s July 26 loss to the Sparks after three minutes of action with an apparent leg injury.

Speaking with reporters for the first time since her injury Sunday, Stewart said she didn’t know when she initially suffered a bone bruise.

“When I stepped, I just felt something in my knee a little bit,” Stewart said. “But I don’t know. I think I just irritated it. I’m sure the bone bruise was there already.”

July 26 was the second night of a back-to-back for the Liberty.

On the previous night, Stewart looked gassed and shot 3-for-12 from the field, though she said after the game that she wouldn’t use fatigue as an excuse for her performance.

Right now, Stewart said she’s able to do just about everything but play competitive five-on-five basketball. She’s been shooting and moving around the court during her solo sessions.

“There’s kind of no restrictions,” she said. “It’s just about keeping the load lower. So the time period of me working out is a little bit shorter.”

Her next two weeks will consist of her ramping up her cardio and lengthening her individual workouts.

“Progressing the on-court workouts to get into playing so then when I do come into the game, it’s not as much of a change,” she said. “Obviously, some things you can’t recreate but as close to that as possible.”

Of course, Stewart would much rather be playing than sitting out, especially considering Kennedy Burke (right calf sprain) and Nyara Sabally (right knee) are also out.

Stewart has been practically begging the training staff to give her the green light to return for the past two weeks.

But as much as she wants to be back, Stewart also knows she’ll be better able to contribute to this team when she’s fully healthy.

Still, that didn’t make watching the Liberty struggle through a four-game losing streak from the sidelines any easier. Seeing the obvious void Stewart’s absence left was almost as painful as her nagging knee injury.

“It’s the worst,” she said. “Just knowing I want to be out there helping them and fighting and battling with them is the hardest part. But they got my back. And while we’re gonna go through some struggles, we went through some, it’s really about the bounce back and they want me to be back healthy, too. So they don’t want me to rush into it either.”