{"id":872921,"date":"2026-10-06T15:40:14","date_gmt":"2026-10-06T15:40:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/872921\/"},"modified":"2026-10-06T15:40:14","modified_gmt":"2026-10-06T15:40:14","slug":"jason-sudeikis-and-wnba-great-breanna-stewart-interview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/872921\/","title":{"rendered":"Jason Sudeikis and WNBA Great Breanna Stewart Interview"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\t\u201cStewie!\u201d When the New York Liberty\u2019s star forward Breanna Stewart<\/a> shows up on the THR set, all 6-feet-4 of her, Jason Sudeikis<\/a> reaches up to embrace her. It\u2019s the kind of hug he\u2019s given her courtside after the team\u2019s major victories, including during their run to the 2024 WNBA<\/a> championship. The four-time Emmy winner, who played college basketball in his native Kansas before going into comedy and becoming Saturday Night Live\u2019s resident jock, doesn\u2019t do fandom halfway. It\u2019s why, today, he refuses to remove his Arsenal hat; he became a hard-core supporter of the Premier League team while in London shooting Ted Lasso<\/a>, which in its fourth season sees the irrepressibly upbeat coach leading a women\u2019s soccer team. It\u2019s why he\u2019s wearing Nikes in UConn colorways to honor Stewart\u2019s alma mater. And it\u2019s why he\u2019s become a fixture of CeLIBrity row, the group of Liberty superfans that includes Spike Lee, Alicia Keys and the cast of Severance.<\/p>\n

\n\tThere are few accomplishments in basketball that Stewart has not achieved. She has four NCAA titles, one WNBA title, four World Cup championships and three Olympic gold medals. The 32-year-old is far from done. \u201cI want to beat all the records,\u201d she tells Sudeikis. Who are we to doubt her? A week after her sit-down with Sudeikis, the eight-seed Liberty will sweep top-seed Minnesota Lynx in the playoffs, toppling the team led by Stewart\u2019s friend and former UConn teammate Napheesa Collier, with whom she co-founded the successful 3-on-3 offseason league Unrivaled in 2023. <\/p>\n

\n\tIn this third edition of THR\u2018s Game Recognize Game<\/a> series, Stewart and Sudeikis discuss the surprising parallels in their career paths, the ways in which the WNBA is handling the scrutiny since superstar Caitlin Clark\u2019s arrival ushered in millions of new fans but also culture-war insanity in a league that\u2019s long been a haven of inclusivity, and how she would realistically handle having Ted Lasso as a coach.<\/p>\n

\n\tJASON SUDEIKIS Nice to see you in street clothes.<\/p>\n

\n\tBREANNA STEWART I know, right? We never do this.<\/p>\n

\n\tSUDEIKIS And you never see me out of Liberty gear. We\u2019re doing THR\u2018s Game Recognize Game. Athlete, artist, artistic athlete, athletic artist, I\u2019d like to think. \u2026 How are the gigs similar? I have my theories, but I\u2019m more interested in what you think.<\/p>\n

\n\tSTEWART Well, people ask me why I want to continue to be great, or how I keep winning. There\u2019s this obsessiveness of continuing to go and try to be better. Like, almost an insane confidence.<\/p>\n

\n\tSUDEIKIS Yeah. It doesn\u2019t feel like ambition from the inside. It just feels like, if I have the opportunity to get to continue to do this, why not do it as best as I can, until I can no longer do it? With athletics, though, it seems like, oh, eventually someone younger comes in, with better knees, more athletic, whatever. Rarely is it that they\u2019re hungrier. I don\u2019t know of anybody that\u2019s been in your position that\u2019s just like, \u201cOh, fuck it, I give up. Let them have it.\u201d That doesn\u2019t happen.<\/p>\n

\n\tSTEWART No. Especially when a new person comes in, you\u2019re like, \u201cOh, I\u2019m going to sauce them.\u201d Like, \u201cOh, they\u2019re in for a long night.\u201d <\/p>\n

\n\tSUDEIKIS How has the college system changed? It feels like, even from my small understanding, [UConn coach Geno] Auriemma softened in his relationship to the players \u2014 we all saw Paige [Bueckers], you know, smack him on the butt. <\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tJason Sudeikis <\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPhotographed by Nina Westervelt<\/p>\n

\n\tSTEWART He\u2019s so, so soft. Coach Auriemma is so soft.<\/p>\n

\n\tSUDEIKIS Lorne, Lorne Michaels at SNL, I feel like has softened up, too. <\/p>\n

\n\tSTEWART When I went to college\u00ad \u2014 when I went to UConn, Coach Auriemma was tough. He was an ass. He was really an ass. I was a 17-, 18-year-old that thought I was working hard \u2014 and then he just kind of chopped me down. <\/p>\n

\n\tSUDEIKIS Did it help when you look back on it now? Do you go, \u201cOh, it was worth it\u201d? <\/p>\n

\n\tSTEWART It helped. I wouldn\u2019t be where I am without Coach Auriemma. Of course. Did it always need to be like that? Mm, no.<\/p>\n

\n\tSUDEIKIS Same with Lorne, yeah. Has that changed? <\/p>\n

\n\tSTEWART Yes. I think the NIL [name-image-likeness] landscape makes it different. He had to soften to keep people around. You could just transfer and not have to sit out. You get paid hundreds of thousands of dollars \u2014 millions \u2014 to be places. So [as a coach], you\u2019ve got to be nice. <\/p>\n

\n\tSUDEIKIS Exactly! Any idea how that\u2019s going to affect those same 17-, 18-year-olds that you were? Beyond the winning, you get to feel like hot shit. You can go, \u201cLook, Coach, you have to listen to me \u2019cause I have 250,000 followers. These are my apostles. I am God. They will come after you. They will dox you.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tSTEWART I think what\u2019s happening with the generation going to college now, their why is not the same. Because my why was, well, I want to be the best player that ever leaves UConn, and I\u2019m going to win four national championships \u2026<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tBreanna Stewart <\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPhotographed by Nina Westervelt<\/p>\n

\n\tSUDEIKIS Which you did. No big deal.<\/p>\n

\n\tSTEWART \u2026 and I want to be great. But, like, their why now is, \u201cWell, I want to get deals. I want to get this money.\u201d That\u2019s my assumption. But when you have the money just being flaunted in front of your face, you\u2019re thinking about it. <\/p>\n

\n\tSUDEIKIS We both come from what are, from the outside view, these cults: SNL and UConn. It teaches you to work hard, probably harder than you thought you needed to. It is the hardest job I ever had. I was there 10 years. I would not be where I am without it. <\/p>\n

\n\tSTEWART SNL is incredible. How did that start? <\/p>\n

\n\tSUDEIKIS I mean, it\u2019s not too dissimilar from the journey of a blue-chip athlete on the way in. There are different places that they come and scout. There\u2019s The Groundlings in Los Angeles, that\u2019s where Will Ferrell started or Kristen Wiig. UCB here in New York, where Amy Poehler came from, and a bunch of people behind the scenes. I did a thing called Second City in Chicago. Tina Fey did that. Chris Farley, John Belushi, Gilda Radner back in the day. I was on, like, their JV team, the touring company. A fella named Jeff Richmond, who is Tina Fey\u2019s husband, came out to see our show in Las Vegas. And he was like, \u201cHey, you ever thought about auditioning for SNL?\u201d And, at that point, I was like, \u201cNo way, Jose. I don\u2019t like that show. I ain\u2019t that.\u201d It was mostly me being a 22-year-old dickhead that was like, \u201cI don\u2019t want something that would never want me.\u201d But I auditioned for it in, like, 2003, and got hired as a writer. Later I had a meeting with Lorne my second year \u2014 my sophomore year. I mentioned to him, like, \u201cHey, you know, to do this, I gave up performing. I\u2019d still really like to do that.\u201d <\/p>\n

\n\tSTEWART Yeah. Put me in the game. <\/p>\n

\n\tSUDEIKIS The next show, Tom Brady hosted, and I got to do a bit in one of the scenes that I wrote where I did like the Running Man and the Roger Rabbit and all those silly dances that I still do \u2014 that I\u2019ve done on Ted Lasso, that I used to do to make kids on my basketball team laugh. And he put me in the cast, like, two weeks after that. What is it like when Coach says, \u201cHey, come play for us\u201d?<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tJason Sudeikis and Breanna Stewart <\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPhotographed by Nina Westervelt (2)<\/p>\n

\n\tSTEWART It\u2019s not like he\u2019s offering formally. He\u2019s like, \u201cI think you should be here. This place is going to be what makes you better.\u201d And then he\u2019s like, \u201cWell, are you going to come?\u201d <\/p>\n

\n\tSUDEIKIS Did any other place have a shot at you?<\/p>\n

\n\tSTEWART Like, for real? I looked at Duke. Beautiful campus. I looked at Maryland, I looked at Penn State. Those were my tops. But no, I wanted to be great. I looked at all the players that came before me and where they were now, and UConn was the only place.<\/p>\n

\n\tSUDEIKIS Fort Scott Community College was the height of my basketball and scholastic career. Which kind of segues into how you kindly invited me to go work out with you with [trainer] Chris Brickley two years ago. <\/p>\n

\n\tSTEWART That was great. We should go do that again. <\/p>\n

\n\tSUDEIKIS I\u2019ve never had any kind of masculine macho arrogance of, like, men\u2019s sports versus women\u2019s sports. But if any of that did ever course through my brain and body and soul, it would\u2019ve been eliminated after that afternoon. You\u2019re so good. Like, and you\u2019re so effortlessly good. You\u2019ve been so good for so long that you\u2019re just iconic. \u2026 You\u2019re like the Jennifer Aniston of the WNBA. You know what I mean?<\/p>\n

\n\tSTEWART Period! Yes. I want to be her. You\u2019ve got to bring her to a game. OK? Thanks. <\/p>\n

\n\tSUDEIKIS I would love to. I think she\u2019s in London right now.<\/p>\n

\n\tSTEWART I\u2019m going to write that in my notes: \u201cBring Jen Aniston to game.\u201c Handle that. <\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tJason Sudeikis and Breanna Stewart <\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPhotographed by Nina Westervelt<\/p>\n

\n\tSUDEIKIS But as we were leaving [the workout], we were just chatting about where [the WNBA] was going, and all these eyeballs, which at least in the past four or five years, sort of gets pushed through the prism of Caitlin [Clark]. And you had said this really wise thing: \u201cWe\u2019ve all wanted this success, but with success comes trouble.\u201d And it makes me think of this Nietzsche quote [as paraphrased in Ted Lasso], \u201cOnce you\u2019re at the top of the mountain, what\u2019s left for you but lightning?\u201d You, I think, personally have avoided a lot of that lightning. Why do you think some folks get it and some folks don\u2019t? <\/p>\n

\n\tSTEWART I think that the discourse just comes because of the climate. It\u2019s like, if you want the fame and the popularity and the notoriety and all that stuff, like you have to take the good with the bad. <\/p>\n

\n\tSUDEIKIS What\u2019s your relationship with social media? Because that is one of the turbo boosters with all of this.<\/p>\n

\n\tSTEWART I\u2019m not doing that. I\u2019m not looking for that. Are you? Do you look for that stuff? <\/p>\n

\n\tSUDEIKIS No. I did for a little bit. <\/p>\n

\n\tSTEWART I control what I can control. I detach from judgment. <\/p>\n

\n\tSUDEIKIS That\u2019s a harder thing. It\u2019s very intoxicating, new fame. That was one of those things that I got to view at SNL. If you go seek validation from it, then when they come for you on the other side of it, I think it could just destroy your soul, potentially. <\/p>\n

\n\tSTEWART Someone said to me, \u201cUnless I\u2019m going to go to these same people who are telling me how I\u2019m bad at basketball and ask them how I should be parenting my kids, it doesn\u2019t matter.\u201d <\/p>\n

\n\tSUDEIKIS We had our own version of backlash in our little neck of the woods with Ted Lasso. But the discourse doesn\u2019t change the way we go about making the show, for better or worse. And I don\u2019t know how much any of this stuff, these outside influences, affect a locker room.<\/p>\n

\n\tSTEWART Well, what I\u2019m having to tell my teammates more and more is to make sure you\u2019re prepared. Don\u2019t let these questions catch you off guard. Obviously, there\u2019s a lot of media surrounding the WNBA, and people are trying to kind of ride the wave, the trajectory of where we\u2019re going. So, now, you\u2019re not only thinking about the next game or next matchup or how am I going to get to the playoffs, but also you have to be ready for the questions that are going to come that are completely outside the court. <\/p>\n

\n\tSUDEIKIS One thing I\u2019ve noticed [going to WNBA games] is that negativity [in the stands], up until maybe this past season, gets rejected like a foreign body in the human. <\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tSudeikis embracing Stewart at a Liberty game in July <\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tKatelyn Mulcahy\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

\n\tSTEWART I remember when you guys first came to the game. It was 2023. Things are going good, the energy at Barclays is incredible. It\u2019s my first year there. And my teammates were like, \u201cTed Lasso\u2019s here! We need to get a picture!\u201d Then you brought your kids. You came back. And now, we\u2019re your team. <\/p>\n

\n\tSUDEIKIS A hundred percent, yeah. I remember you early on busting my balls about, like, \u201cWho are you going to cheer for when we play against the [Indiana] Fever [Caitlin Clark\u2019s team]? <\/p>\n

\n\tSTEWART Sorry, you can\u2019t come in and cheer for the Fever. We\u2019ll have you removed. <\/p>\n

\n\tSUDEIKIS So you just won, what, your fourth gold medal? <\/p>\n

\n\tSTEWART My fourth World Cup medal. <\/p>\n

\n\tSUDEIKIS I went on Wikipedia knowing we were going to do this, and holy moly, it takes three swipes to get through all your [achievements] from your high school days to three days ago. Like, when\u2019s enough enough? (Laughs.) <\/p>\n

\n\tSTEWART It\u2019s never enough. First of all, I want to beat [four-time WNBA champion, former UConn Husky and Stewart\u2019s former Seattle Storm teammate] Sue [Bird]. So right now I\u2019ve just tied Sue. [Editor\u2019s note: Stewart beat Bird\u2019s record the following week to become the league\u2019s eighth all-time leading scorer.] I think winning is addicting. When you win awards and whatnot, you want to do it again, right? When we won here in New York, the parade was insane, and I want to do it again. <\/p>\n

\n\tSUDEIKIS It\u2019d be badass if we pulled it off this year. <\/p>\n

\n\tSTEWART Never say never. I plan on playing for a while. I\u2019m newly 32. Virgo. <\/p>\n

\n\tSUDEIKIS The Magic Johnson year.<\/p>\n

\n\tSTEWART Yeah, my Magic Johnson year. I want to just keep winning. <\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tStewart at Barclays Center in September<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tElsa\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

\n\tSUDEIKIS I want to ask you about your league, Unrivaled. What was the impetus? It reminds me of the heyday of United Artists and Charlie Chaplin. As I understand it, people were upset with the studio system, specifically actors and the artists themselves, and so they created United Artists. From the outside looking in, there\u2019s a [similar] element to Unrivaled in giving power back to the player. <\/p>\n

\n\tSTEWART We\u2019ve exceeded expectations. We have a valuation of $650 million. That\u2019s higher than some WNBA valuations. With Unrivaled, we had the special opportunity to start something new, bring a platform back to the United States, back to our home market during the WNBA offseason, and also pay the players. Give them equity. A league made by players for players. And selling it [to investors] was hard. Like, when you have to sell your show, it\u2019s hard, right? Nobody believes in it. <\/p>\n

\n\tSUDEIKIS Oh my gosh, yeah. We went out to everyone, but only one place [bid for it], Apple.<\/p>\n

\n\tSTEWART Yeah. In the beginning, that was the hardest, because you have to get outside investors to believe something that\u2019s just a blueprint. And they\u2019re like, \u201cWell, why is this going to work?\u201d But it starts with the players that agreed to be in it in year one. The strength in numbers is the biggest thing in women\u2019s basketball. <\/p>\n

\n\tSUDEIKIS There was some quote from Del Close, who was an improv guru and a teacher I had for a year before he passed away: \u201cThe worst idea with full support will always beat the best idea with no support.\u201d It\u2019s the exact same thing as showbiz. You have this idea about, you know, this universe where people fight with lightsabers and it\u2019s like, I don\u2019t know. \u201cJust do it and give me money on the back end with the action figures.\u201d Like, \u201cOK, dummy.\u201d And then, ha ha, now he has a museum. <\/p>\n

\n\tSTEWART So, some people have said that Ted Lasso was dead [after season three]. <\/p>\n

\n\tSUDEIKIS Like, literally? <\/p>\n

\n\tSTEWART The show. Not the coach. Hopefully he does not have a heart attack or anything in the finale. <\/p>\n

\n\tSUDEIKIS You\u2019re going to have to watch. <\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tSudeikis (left) as Ted Lasso, and Brendan Hunt as his right-hand man, Coach\u202fBeard, in Ted Lasso season four. <\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCourtesy of Apple TV+<\/p>\n

\n\tSTEWART But what made you want to focus on women\u2019s soccer this season? Is it because of the rise in women\u2019s sports? <\/p>\n

\n\tSUDEIKIS It certainly helped open my eyes to it. It\u2019s that experience of those seats we\u2019ve had [at Liberty games at the Barclays Center] the last three seasons and watching these women walk on and off the court that just feels so \u2026 gooey with story complexity. When I thought [the show] was done, it really was done. But I just kept hearing the characters\u2019 voices. So it was important for me to just keep jotting down these ideas, and at some point it became too silly \u2014 it would almost be selfish \u2014 to not do it.<\/p>\n

\n\tSTEWART So is there going to be a season five? <\/p>\n

\n\tSUDEIKIS I don\u2019t know. That was smooth. That was smooth.<\/p>\n

\n\tSTEWART That scene [in season four] when you went in the women\u2019s locker room with the trash can on your head? That was funny. I really enjoyed that. If Ted Lasso was my coach for the Liberty, I think it would be funny. <\/p>\n

\n\tSUDEIKIS I think we\u2019d have a good time. I don\u2019t know, would you be annoyed? <\/p>\n

\n\tSTEWART Maybe. I don\u2019t know if I would be open-minded to some of your, um, practice tactics. I think I would be a little bit grumpy about that. <\/p>\n

\n\tSUDEIKIS Sure. I\u2019d hear that with open arms and an open heart. I\u2019d be like, \u201cAll right. All right. Well, you won\u2019t practice tomorrow.\u201d <\/p>\n

\n\tSTEWART Great, we get the day off! I saw this thing where this basketball club overseas, Zalgiris, they want you to come coach there. Are you going to do it? <\/p>\n

\n\tSUDEIKIS What, is it the Lithuanian team? Because Sudeikis is Lithuanian? <\/p>\n

\n\tSTEWART Yes. Are you going to go do that? You should do that. Doesn\u2019t that sound cool?<\/p>\n

\n\tSUDEIKIS It does sound cool. Will they pay for my flight? If I can bring Brendan [Hunt], who plays Coach Beard, I would literally do anything. So, I just literally found out that Cathy Engelbert, the WNBA commissioner, was stepping down. I would love for her, before she leaves, to give the thumbs-up on a Kansas City franchise. <\/p>\n

\n\tSTEWART Yeah. I don\u2019t think that\u2019s going to happen. <\/p>\n

\n\tSUDEIKIS I know, I know, I know. But what would you want out of the next commissioner? It seems like a very difficult job. <\/p>\n

\n\tSTEWART I think it is a really difficult job. Honestly, Cathy has obviously gotten a lot of heat. But she deserves some praise, too, as she\u2019s finishing because she helped get an incredible CBA [collective bargaining agreement] done. You can\u2019t look around that. I think that the next commissioner obviously needs to have an incredible business mind because now we\u2019re in the millions, billions type of industry. But also, you need to have some type of sports background just to navigate the space a little bit better. You think of [NBA Commissioner] Adam Silver, and he has a great relationship with the players. And not to say Cathy didn\u2019t. I think that it just took time. It took a little bit longer than it needed to. <\/p>\n

\n\tSUDEIKIS I don\u2019t think you\u2019re brought up enough in the MVP conversation this season. <\/p>\n

\n\tSTEWART Clock it. <\/p>\n

\n\tSUDEIKIS You\u2019re just quietly dominating. And I would love to get to a fourth scroll for you on Wikipedia.<\/p>\n

\n\tSTEWART I think people just get used to me being great all the time. And it\u2019s expected, so when I do it all the time, it\u2019s not that same brightness because it\u2019s just consistently bright. But I\u2019m definitely going to get you a fourth swipe on Wikipedia. I\u2019m trying to break records here. <\/p>\n

\n\tSUDEIKIS I appreciate it. Which record are you closest to getting the top spot on? <\/p>\n

\n\tSTEWART I need another gold medal in the World Cup to break Sue\u2019s record. Diana [Taurasi] has five Olympic gold medals. Let\u2019s just take one thing at a time. So see you in L.A. \u201928. <\/p>\n

\n\tThis story appeared in the Oct. 7 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cStewie!\u201d When the New York Liberty\u2019s star forward Breanna Stewart shows up on the THR set, all 6-feet-4…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":872922,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[435,277902,23321,99,13022,434],"class_list":["post-872921","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wnba","tag-breanna-stewart","tag-game-recognize-game","tag-jason-sudeikis","tag-sports","tag-ted-lasso","tag-wnba"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/872921","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=872921"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/872921\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/872922"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=872921"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=872921"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=872921"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}