New York Liberty forward Breanna Stewart and guard Sabrina Ionescu were both selected as recipients of the Associated Press’s annual end-of-season awards, the news organization announced this week.
Stewart, in addition to being selected to the All-AP First Team for the sixth time in her career, earned herself the biggest individual honor by being named 2023 AP Player of the Year.
Hard to argue with the decision, as Stewart had a majorly impactful season for the Liberty.
In her first season in a New York uniform, the all-star forward stuffed that stat sheet, contributing 23.0 points and 3.8 assists per game (both career bests), along with averaging 9.3 rebounds, 1.6 blocks, and 1.5 steals.
In addition to leading the Liberty to a franchise-best 32-8 record, Stewart also made history for her individual accomplishments as well.
Among her several achievements this year included setting the WNBA single-season record for 40-point games (with four); tying the all-time WNBA record for career 40-point games; along with tying the league’s single-season 35-plus point game record with five.
Since the award was established in 2016, Stewart has now earned three AP Player of the Year honors, which is the most all-time. She is also the first back-to back winner of the award, and is the first Liberty player to ever receive the accolade.
Joining Stewart as an AP award-winner is Ionescu, who was selected to the 2023 All-AP Second Team.
After breaking out last season and making All-WNBA Second-Team, Ionescu followed that up with another impressive year for the Liberty.
This season, the all-star guard averaged 17.0 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 5.4 assists per game — making her the only player in the whole league to put up such a statline.
Ionescu also had herself a historical year from beyond the three-point line, setting the single-season three-point percentage record with 44.8%, as well as breaking the WNBA’s all-time single-season threes mark with 128 successful makes.
The award marks the fourth-year guard’s second career and consecutive All-AP honor.
