The Liberty Need to Do Right by Breanna Stewart

Breanna Stewart turned to her coach, Chris DeMarco, seated next to her at the Liberty press conference table after a crushing three-point loss in Game 2 of the semifinals. “Am I the one saying it or you?” Stewart asked, pointing at DeMarco. He shrugged, ceding the floor to his player. Stewart went on to explain the night’s events to the media: She asked the referees at the end of the game if the Liberty still had a reset timeout and heard them say no. Instead, New York heaved the ball up the floor in the game’s dying seconds in a fruitless attempt to level the score. Whether the officials miscommunicated or gave Stewart wrong information, the Liberty staff’s failure to recognize that the team still had a reset timeout in a narrow playoff matchup was a substantial blunder—one a head coach would likely want to comment on. But DeMarco instead demurred.

That moment, following the penultimate game in New York’s season, was a telling microcosm of the Liberty’s year. Whose team was this, and what was its identity? Those questions were never answered, and on Friday night, after the Dream completed a sweep that ended New York’s postseason run, the Liberty players still seemed to be searching for resolution.

“It just took us a while to find our identity, what we were going to do defensively, how we were going to play with teams,” Stewart said, reflecting on the Liberty’s season after their semifinals loss.

Defense was certainly an issue for New York throughout the year, with its 107.5 rating ranking seventh in the league. Stewart emphasized the veracity of the adage, defense wins championships, pointing to it as an area for improvement ahead of next season. (And one only has to look at the two Finals teams, boasting the league’s top defenses, as evidence of that sentiment.)

But the Liberty also seemed rudderless overall, lacking a galvanizing ethos. Sure, New York has stars in Stewart, Jonquel Jones and Sabrina Ionescu, but what kind of basketball were the Liberty meant to play? Once again using the Finals teams as foils, what the Dream and Valkyries lack in an A’ja Wilson, Napheesa Collier or Stewart, they make up for in a cohesive culture. These teams are bought in, and that likely starts with their coaches, Karl Smesko and Natalie Nakase.

When asked whether it was their “hope and belief” that DeMarco would return as coach next season, Jones, Ionescu and Stewart offered varying, but equally unenthusiastic responses. “That’s not our say,” Jones said. “Our job is to go out, play good basketball, and represent the organization well, represent the fan base well, and our families well.”

Players responded more animatedly when asked about former coach Sandy Brondello’s job security after the Liberty’s 2025 playoff exit. “To anybody that kind of questions Sandy being here, this is a resilient group, and she has our backs and we have hers,” Stewart said last year.

DeMarco, who held his semifinals postmortem alone on Friday night—and ahead of Jones, Ionescu and Stewart—said he expects to return as coach next year. “As far as I know, every communication I’ve had, dialogue I’ve had, the answer is yes,” DeMarco said.

Liberty general manager Jonathan Kolb went out on a limb firing Brondello one season after she led New York to its first title. He did so, underscoring the organization’s need to innovate and evolve.

“We need to nail this,” Kolb said of the job search that led to DeMarco’s hiring. “If we’re going to make a bold decision like this, our players deserve to get the best, and so we’ll take the time necessary.”

So, did Kolb and the Liberty “nail it?” That is the question looming over Brooklyn.

In fairness, the Liberty were once again plagued by injury during the 2026 season, with Ionescu sidelined for stretches and new addition Satou Sabally playing only 13 games. There is an argument to be made that they outkicked their coverage, becoming the first No. 8 seed in WNBA history to knock off the No. 1 seed, sweeping the mighty Lynx in dominant fashion. But New York, with an in-form Stewart at the helm, had championship aspirations, and falling short of those lofty goals is unacceptable in Barclays Center.

Kolb may feel pressure to own the decision to hire DeMarco, leading him to give the first-year WNBA head coach another season to adapt. But the Liberty GM should be singularly focused on the sand trickling through the hourglass that is Stewart’s prime. The 32-year-old knows how rare a healthy season is and how hard it is to make it to the Finals. With Stewart in the MVP conversation again this year, it’s hard not to ponder the what-ifs.

“What I am thinking about right now is the missed opportunity,” Stewart said after falling to the Dream. With a generational talent like Stewart on its roster, New York has no room for unfulfilled potential. Perhaps the Liberty did have an identity after all: Breanna Stewart’s team. Kolb and DeMarco should waste no time and spare no expense doing right by their star.

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