How the Liberty Brought Home NYC’s First WNBA Title
By Tate Hutchinson
PUTTING THE PIECES TOGETHER
The New York Liberty have undergone many changes in their 28 seasons in the WNBA. Starting as one of the eight original teams in the league, legends have come and gone, the team has bounced around various arenas, and their championship hopes have fallen just short many times. But the Liberty have found their home in Brooklyn, and led by a big three of Jonquel Jones, Breanna Stewart, and Sabrina Ionescu, they have taken the city by storm. It was a long time coming, but the Liberty are finally WNBA Champions.
The team’s metamorphosis began in the 2020 season, with new owners Joseph and Clara Wu Tsai charting a new path for the franchise. Trading for the #1 overall pick to draft superstar guard Sabrina Ionescu, the Liberty embraced a youth movement with seven rookies on the roster, finishing 2-20 in an injury-plagued “COVID bubble” season. In 2021, the team moved from a small arena in Westchester to the massive, high-tech Barclays Center in Brooklyn, breaking a three-year playoff drought with the help of newly-signed All-Star Betnijah Laney-Hamilton.
2022 saw two more pieces of the puzzle come together; the signing of accomplished Phoenix Mercury coach Sandy Brondello and drafting of Nyara Sabally fifth overall would prove to be key moves for future success. But in 2023, Liberty executive Jonathan Kolb went all-in, trading for Kayla Thornton and 2021 MVP Jonquel Jones, in addition to recruiting two-time Finals MVP Breanna Stewart and perennial All-Star guard Courtney Vandersloot. And after falling just short in the 2023 Finals, they signed Euroleague standout Leonie Fiebich to a rookie deal with the hope that she could contribute off the bench.
Now met with their highest expectations since the team’s inception, the word was out; the team averaged nearly 13,000 fans per game — a five-times increase since 2019 — and the invigorated fanbase came close to selling out Barclays Center every playoff game. Safe to say, the team matched the hype, with a league-best 32-8 record. They would continue to cruise in the postseason, sweeping the Atlanta Dream and eliminating the defending champion Las Vegas Aces that sent them home in 2023.
A HISTORIC FINALS
Making their sixth WNBA Finals appearance, New York entered the series hopeful that this would finally be their year. After a tough five-game series to decide their opponent, the Minnesota Lynx emerged as their competition. The Lynx, led by four-time champion and four-time Coach of the Year Cheryl Reeve boasted an experienced, defense-first team that managed to defeat the Liberty in three of their four matchups this season.
Ahead of their second consecutive Finals, Liberty coach Sandy Brondello discussed her team’s more confident approach to this year’s series. “We’re not feeling any outward pressure, we’re very locked in,” she said. “I do believe we’re peaking at the right time, and now you still have to go out and do it.”
And to open the series, the Liberty came out looking just as composed as anticipated on their home court, taking a quick 18-point lead early in the second quarter. However, the Defensive Player of the Year winner Napheesa Collier made a huge impact to close the gap, blocking crucial shots from Ionescu and Stewart.
With the momentum swinging and Courtney Williams hitting shot after unbelievable shot, the Lynx forced overtime after Stewart missed a free throw that could have clinched it for New York. And despite it all, the Liberty never ran out of steam, a steal-and-score from Jonquel Jones knotting the score at 93. And with the game on the line, Collier nailed a fadeaway jumper with eight seconds left, and Breanna Stewart’s shot at redemption missed at the buzzer. And like that, the Lynx had taken away New York’s home-court advantage.
Following the devastating overtime thriller, the Liberty approached Game 2 with the goal of remaining calm and playing their style of basketball to tie the series up at home. Taking their missed opportunities as lessons, the Liberty cruised to victory in front of a sold-out crowd. This time, Betnijah Laney-Hamilton and Breanna Stewart stole the show, with a pair of 20-point performances with Stewart setting the record for the most steals (7) in a WNBA Finals game.
Now at the fired-up Minnesota’s Target Center for a cinematic Game 3, Stewart and the Liberty looked to keep their momentum going to take back home court. However, the Lynx responded quickly, with some hot shooting pushing their lead to 15 points in the first quarter. After halftime, Stewart and the Liberty’s offense came alive, tightening the score late in the third.
The Liberty turned to their star trio in the final frame, with Jones, Ionescu, and Stewart taking all fifteen shots. With the game knotted at 77 with ten seconds left, Sabrina Ionescu, who shines in the biggest moments, took Kayla McBride on for a one-on-one possession. With the clock running down, she heaved up a three-pointer, almost from the logo. And hit it. The Liberty went up 2-1 in the Finals, courtesy of one of the greatest shots in WNBA history.
“I’ve practiced that shot 1000 times,” the enthusiastic Ionescu stated postgame. “Definitely the biggest shot of my career, and hopefully not the last.”
Now one win away from a championship, the pressure was on. The evenly matched squads exchanged blows in a must-win game where neither team led by five points. The story of the Liberty’s Game 4 was defined by the impressive ability of Jonquel Jones and Leonie Fiebich to remain calm under pressure. Despite Stewart and an injury-hampered Ionescu shooting 10-of-36, Jones and Fiebich put up efficient 21- and 19-point performances that kept the Liberty in the mix.
A huge three from Fiebich and a crucial and-one from Jones helped to tie the game at 80 in the final minute. But both teams looked exhausted by the marathon of a game, missing multiple shots to seal a critical victory. In the final seconds, Ionescu was called for a questionable foul on Bridget Carleton on a putback attempt. Carleton’s free throws clinched a Minnesota win in front of an erupting crowd, forcing a winner-take-all Game 5 back in Brooklyn.
WINNER TAKES ALL
The Liberty’s regular season success paid off, as being able to host the final game in front of their home crowd could swing the momentum enough to win New York the championship. “We wanted to get it done tonight, but our fans are like no other,” Stewart remarked postgame. “Whenever we’re fighting through all of this adversity, we know we have the crowd behind us.”
In one of the best championship series in any sport this century, its finale lived up to the hype. Napheesa Collier and the Lynx dominated the defensive battle early, carrying a modest lead into halftime. But everything shifted when reserve forward Nyara Sabally entered the game in the third. The Game 5 hero crashed the glass again and again, putting up nine critical points in the frame to turn the game on its head and giving the Liberty their first lead of the night.
With neither team able to pull away, every shot became do-or-die down the stretch. And in a game where both teams combined to shoot 5-of-42 from three, Ionescu’s sole bucket echoed her iconic deep three earlier in the series to extend the Liberty lead. Minnesota clawed back to lead, 60-58, in the final moments. After a momentous shooting foul call, Breanna Stewart could tie the game by making both free throws. Her shot at redemption with the game on the line was successful, as she cashed in both to send the winner-take-all finale to yet another overtime.
The sparse overtime scoring began with a quick corner three by Fiebich to break the tie, and the Liberty were able to keep the momentum. “Whoever scores first in overtime usually wins,” Coach Brondello said confidently postgame, and her belief would prevail. A breakaway steal-and-score by Sabally in the period brought the sellout crowd to their feet, extending the lead to 65-60. With the 18,000-proud Barclays Center thunderous with excitement, New York’s defense did not allow a single Lynx field goal in OT.
And as the clock ticked to zero in the 67-62 win, the New York Liberty were victorious, finally able to celebrate their first championship on their home court. The ever-steady Jonquel Jones deservedly earned Finals MVP honors, averaging 18 points and 8 rebounds. Presented with the trophy, she reflected on the journey she took to this moment. Jones left her home in the Bahamas at 13 to chase her basketball dreams in the US, even living with strangers for an opportunity to make it a reality. “I could never dream of this,” she said. “It was all worth it.”
The Liberty certainly could not have done it without Nyara Sabally and her career-best performance in the biggest moment. “That’s what I’ve been working for all my career, moments like these,” she described, as the roaring home crowd chanted her name.
2024’s climactic finals series appropriately capped off a historic and record-breaking season for the WNBA. With more eyes on the league than ever before, the record-high ratings continued with million-plus viewership for every game in the Finals. As the WNBA and women’s sports continue to rise, the Liberty are committed to growing the game and inspiring the league’s next stars in New York and around the world.
VICTORY AT LAST
Jones and the Liberty managed to break NYC’s championship drought, marking the return of a beloved tradition: the ticker-tape parade. With thousands of fans lining the streets of Lower Manhattan, members of the 2024 Liberty team celebrated, proudly representing the city as they rode down the iconic Canyon of Heroes. The joy was palpable, especially among the many young fans decked out in seafoam gear in the front rows.
After riding from Battery Park to City Hall, the celebration continued there, as the Liberty were presented with the key to the city. Beloved mascot Ellie the Elephant got the crowd hyped with her iconic style and dance moves, and the players got a chance to thank the city that brought the energy every night.
“I can’t put it into words what it means to be part of this community…I think I’m a New Yorker now,” Ionescu, the longest-tenured Liberty remarked. “Just being able to take it all in, seeing all the people who were in the crowd smiling, celebrating with their Liberty gear, it really puts into perspective what it means to bring a championship to this city.”
Though their victory represented the first NYC basketball championship in over fifty years, the Liberty aren’t satisfied. Tasting victory once, they plan to run it back and try to make history once again in 2025. “Hey, let’s not stop at one though,” Brondello declared. “Let’s go for two.”