Reigning WNBA MVP Breanna Stewart’s new role as an ambassador for the league has yet to be defined.
The three-year veteran tore her Achilles tendon last month playing overseas, and mutually decided with the Seattle Storm to be suspended for the season without pay to open up a roster spot.
Yesterday Stewart’s agent and deputy NBA commissioner Mark Tatum confirmed that she would receive more than the $65,000 base salary she earns with the Storm, as a player ambassador. But the WNBA has not issued a press release on Stewart’s new job, and they have declined to comment.
When asked what Stewart’s duties would be, how much she would make, and why the move hasn’t been acknowledge on the league’s website, a spokesperson referred to an Associated Press piece published yesterday. It quoted both Tatum and Lindsay Kagawa Colas – Stewart’s agent – who both applauded the new role for the dynamic forward.
This is the second time this spring that the WNBA has declined to answer questions about personnel matters, and referred to a published story instead.
Stewart answered questions for an ESPN reporter on a game broadcast earlier today, as she sat courtside watching Seattle take on the Phoenix Mercury.
“I’m working with the league to figure out what that entails,” Stewart said of her ambassador job. “But I’m excited to be around as much as I can.”
The 24-year-old is five weeks out of surgery, and just this week graduated to walking in a boot cast.
“Getting off crutches is huge,” she said.