With the second round of the WNBA playoffs just starting, news has surfaced that the Liberty parted ways with head coach Sandy Brondello after winning the championship last season.
Brondello had been the head coach of the Liberty for four seasons, winning the WNBA Championship the previous season and advancing to the WNBA Finals in 2023. During her coaching tenure in New York, her record was 107-53, with her 107 wins a franchise record. She was previously the head coach of the Phoenix Mercury from 2014 to 2021, during which she won the Coach of the Year award and a championship in 2014. Sandy played five seasons in the WNBA with the Detroit Shock, Miami Sol and Seattle Storm.
This has a certain feeling of deja vu when you compare this situation with that of an NBA team located in Manhattan, the New York Knicks. They fired head coach Tom Thibodeau after a successful five-year tenure, during which the Knicks saw their most success in over two decades, and let him go this summer.
This came as a surprise to most of the league. The Liberty suffered a disappointing three-game loss to the Phoenix Mercury in the first round. For some points of the season, key players such as Jonquel Jones, Breanna Stewart, and Sabrina Ionescu dealt with injuries. Even with all the injuries, they still made the playoffs as the number five seed. Sandy Brondello’s contract was up, but the Liberty weren’t going to resign her. Her players had her back throughout the entire season, especially the postseason.
Natasha Cloud said this about Sandy on Friday: “Sandy did an amazing job this year of getting us through injuries, keeping us together, staying optimistic and positive.” Breanna Stewart said, “She has our back, and we have hers.”
It’s clear that her players love her and the feelings were mutual. Sandy Brondello has done a lot for the New York Liberty franchise, and a lot more questions will loom in the offseason as nearly the entire starting five will be unrestricted free agents. The question that will loom over this franchise is whether this is the right move for the team to get them back into championship contention.
As for Brondello, she can return to where it all began to coach the Seattle Storm. She enters the coaching portal as one of the most sought-after coaches in the league, by far, and it won’t be long before she secures her next coaching opportunity.
