Liberty staring down a Breanna Stewart workload dilemma

MONTREAL — First-year Liberty coach Chris DeMarco was with the Warriors during their “Strength in Numbers” era.

But he’s also seen Golden State, at times, rely too heavily on Stephen Curry to be the team’s savior.

The Liberty are experiencing a similar dilemma.

Much had been made of the Liberty’s depth heading into this season.

General manager Jonathan Kolb built what appeared to be the most talented roster in the league.

But the Liberty are running a familiar script, with Breanna Stewart as the team’s lead actress.

Too often, the star-studded Liberty exhibit an overreliance on one star — Stewart — to save them.

New York asks the seasoned superstar to put on her seafoam cape and power the team to victory.

She’s their guiding light and Wonder Woman, but she alone can’t salvage the Liberty’s season and carry the team’s hopes of contending for a title.

Stewart all but emptied the tank in Saturday’s loss against the Minnesota Lynx, logging 37 minutes.

A day later, after crossing the northern border, the 31-year-old played a team-high 34 minutes.

DeMarco chased both wins as the Liberty rallied from double-digit deficits in the second half.

Yet the results were the same, with the Liberty most recently losing 93-91 to the Toronto Tempo at Bell Centre as part of the WNBA’s celebration of its first Canadian franchise.

New York dropped to 13-11 on the season and has lost seven of its past 10 games.

The Liberty have three games before the All-Star break: at Dallas on Thursday, at Indiana on Saturday and at home against the Sky on July 22.

While Stewart is an All-Star for the eighth time, she should get some much-needed and deserved rest during the break.

But there’s bubbling concern regarding the heavy workload Stewart has been carrying this season and whether it’s sustainable in the long term.

Stewart has played in all but one of the Liberty’s 24 games this season.

The only game she took off was New York’s June 25 loss in Seattle for scheduled rest.

Stewart, who’s in her 10th season, ranks seventh in the league in total minutes with 758.

She’s averaging 33 minutes per game, her most since her MVP season in 2023.

Stewart’s usage rate is 27.6 percent, tied with her 2017 season for the third-highest mark in her career.

That’s up 0.4 percent from last season.

This has been out of necessity.

Sabrina Ionescu missed the first chunk of the season because of injuries.

She’s been back for about a month but only recently reestablished herself and played a major role in both of the Liberty’s recent rallies.

Satou Sabally has been in and out for various reasons and is currently in concussion protocol.

Leonie Fiebich is now sidelined for the foreseeable future with foot soreness.

Their absences have put the burden on others, mainly Stewart, to steady the ship.

Stewart is still delivering big performances.

She overcame an uncharacteristic first half Sunday during which she went 2-for-11 from the field for four points.

She finished with 22 points, going 6-for-10 shooting in the second half, and had some major defensive stops down the stretch.

She’s sixth in the league in scoring (20.4 points per game), 11th in rebounding (8.4 per game) and sixth in total blocks (29).

But the Liberty’s slow starts have forced the hypercompetitive Stewart to do more.

It’s a long season that’s more than halfway over.

There’s a FIBA World Cup break in September, though it’s not much of a break since half of the Liberty’s roster could participate in it.

Stewart is always going to be a major player in the team’s success.

But at what cost?