A month and a half ago, the New York Liberty hoisted their first championship trophy in franchise history. In front of a record 18,000 fans and millions more watching at home, the Liberty completed their 28 year odyssey. 2024 was a season full of accolades, record-breaking moments and a team with something to prove after last season’s heartbreak. I don’t know about you, but with the WNBA 2025 schedule released and the Unrivaled season just a few weeks away, I was feeling nostalgic about the record-breaking season in seafoam.
Here is the Liberty’s season in review:
How It Started: High Hopes and Expectations
New York came into the 2024 season with very high expectations, even more so than last season when they brought in Breanna Stewart, Jonquel Jones and Courtney Vandersloot to fill out their starting lineup alongside Sabrina Ionescu and Betnijah Laney-Hamilton.
In 2023, New York was expected to compete based on the sheer amount of talent on their roster by both basketball fans and the league. The team itself had those same expectations coming into the new year. In 2023, the team was expected to get to the WNBA finals. But in 2024, the Liberty knew they could and should win it all.
This belief and anticipatory team chemistry (shout out the Freida McFadden bookclub, Papa John’s pizza party, and more!) from day one of training camp set the tone for the season.
The 2024 New York bench was probably the biggest question heading into the season. There were a number of new pieces outside of Kayla Thornton and Nyara Sabally. However, Jonathan Kolb, 2023 Executive of the Year, made some under the radar acquisitions that proved to be difference makers.
The team drafted Marquesha Davis with their first-round pick. They also signed Jaylyn Sherrod to a training camp contact and later resigned to an end of season contract. Kennedy Burke and Ivana Dojkić signed in free agency. And Leonie Fiebich joined the team after being acquired in a 2023 trade. The Liberty also acquired Rebekah Gardner, who sat out the 2024 season but could be a key contributor in 2025.
While they may not have stuck out as home run signings, the Fiebich acquisition especially proved to be a grandslam.
The Liberty got off to a bit of a sluggish start in the preseason and their first regular season game against Washington, similarly to 2023, but picked it up with consecutive wins against the Fever. Then, with losses to Chicago and Minnesota, New York found themselves with the same record six games in as 2023. It was evident there were still some things to clean up on the defensive end. However, it proved to be part of the journey in getting comfortable in Year two and finding the right rotations.
Middle of the Regular Season: Still Leading the Pack
The Liberty went through a strong stretch in the middle of the regular season. They won in a variety of ways that demonstrated their ability to close out in big moments. They remained at the top of the standings and this middle stretch was a huge reason for that.
Jones and Ionsecu dominated this part of the season, taking a lot of pressure off of 2023 WNBA MVP Stewart. Jones modeled her 2021 MVP season and Ionescu undoubtedly had the best season of her bright career.
New York went on an eight-game winning streak during this stretch. The streak was punctuated with a massive 90-82 road win against the Aces. In that game, Jones scored a career high 34 points as she outplayed A’ja Wilson. Ionescu led the team midway through the season in scoring and heavily improved her mid-range game and defense.
While New York wasn’t able to defend their Commissioner’s Cup Championship title against the Lynx, I think this was an incredibly beneficial game for the team to assess their weaknesses against a top team. New York struggled mightily with turnovers in that matchup. They learned from it and responded a week later with a victory as they cut their turnovers in half. From their few losses, it was evident Sandy Brondello and the team learned from their mistakes and corrected them.
The middle of the season was also filled with individual awards. Jones was selected to the WNBA All-Star team and helped them secure a victory in Phoenix. Ionescu and Stewart led Team USA to their eighth consecutive gold medal with decisive performances in the gold medal game.
This extended league break also provided a good rest for some players who would be key in their postseason run. Betnijah Laney-Hamilton used this time to recover from a minor procedure on her right knee.
End of Regular Season: Full Steam Ahead
The Liberty ended the regular season with the league’s best record for the second time in franchise history. While the regular season ended with a loss to the Dream, Brondello gave players like Davis and Sherrod more minutes to show off their growth. At the end of the season, Stewart began to find her stride, leading the team in scoring in eight of their last 10 games.
Heading into the playoffs, there were still major concerns over turnovers. Coming off the break, New York turned the ball over at the second highest mark in the league. Also, there was some worry about how the stars would perform, especially Ionescu and Stewart after playing in the Olympics. But a date with the Dream in the first round of the playoffs, who they had beaten three times earlier in the season, allowed them to start their playoff journey on a high note.
Playoffs: It’s Go Time
Sandy Brondello made an important change to the starting lineup to revitalize the team ahead of their postseason run. Vandersloot was relegated to the bench to provide a spark and veteran leadership for the second crew while Fiebich, who could do a little of everything on both ends of the floor, was brought into the starting lineup.
This decision proved to be a gamechanger for New York.
New York’s playoff run got off to a strong start with a 2-0 sweep of the Dream. In Game 1, Fiebich scored a WNBA career high 21 points and played great defense against Dream star Rhyne Howard. While NY fell behind early in Game 2, 36 points from Ionescu secured a Liberty berth in the semifinals.
Then came the culmination of what the Liberty had worked up to for over a year — a 2023 Finals rematch against the Aces in the semis. Las Vegas’ championship celebration on New York’s home court just a year before had undoubtedly fueled the team. Every player on the floor made an impact in this semifinals series. Stewart and Ionescu came alive, Vandersloot provided a spark and hustle off the bench, the team set a franchise postseason record for rebounds in a game (48), and ultimately ended the Aces’ 12-game home playoff win streak.
NY clinched their second consecutive Finals berth, avenged last year’s heartbreak, and were in position to win its first title. Here comes the Finals.
Finals: Liberty Make History
The 2024 WNBA Finals were arguably one of the greatest finals series in history. Each game brought its own iconic and nail-biting moment that fans and the league as a whole will look back on celebration or infamy, whichever you choose!
Game 1 was a tough collapse from the Liberty in the final few moments of the fourth quarter and overtime, spurred by a clutch four-point play from Courtney Williams. After that loss, New York’s confidence could have crumbled. But in front of their home crowd, led by Stewart’s 21 points, even after almost giving up another lead to the Lynx late in the game, New York evened the already thrilling series before heading to Minnesota.
How could anyone forget Game 3? With one second on the clock, Ionescu, who had struggled all game, hit a 28-foot three pointer on Minnesota’s home court to win it for New York and cement herself in Liberty history.
And with a chance to win in Game 4, marred by some late Liberty defensive mistakes, the Lynx tied the series. It was only fitting that the series would lead to a winner take all Game 5.
As a Liberty fan for 10+ years, I decided to go to Game 5 as a spectator with my parents. While tickets were the most expensive they’ve ever been, the excitement in Barclays was through the roof. From people who were just introduced to the league and the team in 2024, to Liberty Loyals who have attended every game since the inaugural 1997 season, there was a buzz amidst every single person in the arena. It was a rollercoaster ride of a game to say the least, as New York fell behind early and didn’t start clawing their way back until the third quarter.
It was already a tightly contested finals series, so it was only fitting that game 5 went to overtime. Powered by a huge three from Fiebich and clutch minutes from Nyara Sabally, the energy in Barclays was palpable as those final seconds ticked down, 18,000 fans waiting in anticipation of history.
It was an indescribable feeling to see those streamers and confetti fall from the ceiling, Frank Sinatra’s “New York, New York” blared over the speakers, and Jonquel Jones, delayed not denied, win her first WNBA championship and be named Finals MVP. Walking out of Barclays Center, I saw fans decked out in 2024 jerseys and others in Lobo, Weatherspoon, Hammon and Charles jerseys, honoring the players who built the foundation. The front of Barclays became a party for hours, as strangers hugged and celebrated the champions of New York. It was a special, special moment and an experience I shared with both family and strangers that I will remember for the rest of my life.
The night was followed by the ticker tape parade down the Canyon of Heroes and celebration filled performances inside Barclays. The highly anticipated ring and banner ceremony is now set for May 17 against guess who… the Aces! Even as the year winds down, I will continue to celebrate and reminisce on one of the greatest seasons ever. I also cannot wait for all that is to come as New York undertakes their title defense.
Season in Review by the Numbers
- One Championship
- Overall Number One Seed
- One WNBA Finals Buzzer Beater
- Multiple Barclays Center Attendance Records
- A lot of Celebrity Rows
- One WNBA Coach of the Month – July
- Two Olympic Gold Medals
- One Olympic Bronze Medal
- Multiple Eastern Conference Players of the Week and Month
- One All-Rookie Team Member
- Three WNBA All-Stars
- One Iconic Elephant