Liberty GM Reveals Reason for Sandy Brondello Departure
BROOKLYN — The W, rather than W's, led the New York Liberty to make a change in the head coaching spot.
Liberty general manager Jonathan Kolb met the press after the team did not renew its contract with head coach Sandy Brondello, stating the league landscape drove the franchise to make a change as it seeks to learn and grow from a disappointing championship defense.
"We not only evaluate throughout the season our own team, but we also evaluate the league and with where this league is going," Kolb said. "We felt very confident that we need to move forward in a way that we can evolve and continue to move with the league that makes sense."
"We've got a great level of appreciation for Sandy Brondello, the head coach, as well as Sandy Brondello the person," the general manager said. "This decision comes after a thorough examination of what the New York Liberty need as we move forward into a future of an ever evolving WNBA. Very serious thought and consideration was made to retaining Sandy, but ultimately we determined that evolution and innovation is what is needed at this time."
Brondello was let go after four seasons at the Liberty helm, amassing a regular season record of 107-53 to stand as the winningest boss in franchise history. The move came less than a year after Brondello oversaw the Liberty's first postseason championship run and less than a week after the quest for a repeat was denied by the Phoenix Mercury in the ongoing WNBA Playoffs.
Noting how the much the game evolved even from the 2023 campaign, the Liberty's first to feature the full-time collaboration of Sabrina Ionescu, Jonquel Jones, and Breanna Stewart, Kolb opted to search for a new coach, saying that going purely by past success would be "playing with fire."
Kolb revealed that looking for a new head coach was "very much under consideration" after last season but that the ensuing championship put the conversation off for a year. He defined the decision as "neither punitive nor reactive" and not solely based on the results of this season, which saw the Liberty fall to fifth on the WNBA Playoff bracket thanks in part to numerous injuries before it was downed by the aforementioned Mercury in the best-of-three opening round.
"Coming out of this season and really seeing an influx of change on many teams. It was it made the decision timeline tangible and one that we can be actionable on," Kolb said.
"I think that for us, we feel really confident that we need to evolve. We need to be more innovative right now. We need to be more adaptable right now. Those are things that are really important for us," Kolb noted. "... I just think it's more about an evaluation of the league and how the league is changing and who is coming into this league and leading these organizations on the floor. So I think it's more about about that."
"This is not a results based organization. This is not about not winning. It's about how do we position ourselves to be at the top of the league in a real, sustainable way, as the league does evolve in the ways we're talking about on the floor."
Moving on from Brondello was made all the more shocking considering that the decision came after Liberty star Breanna Stewart offered a staunch defense of the head coach shortly after the title defense ended last week.
Kolb reiterated that while he keeps an "open door" with his players, he felt the choice was a display of the chemistry and trust he has built with the group. Even with the departure, Kolb stated that he has the "utmost confidence" that the core group led by Ionescu, Jones and Stewart wants to return.
"We always take into consideration how our players feel when making decisions, but ultimately, we have to do what we feel is best for the organization," Kolb said. "If we believe that change can inspire multiple areas of the organization to move forward, it's the right decision."
The Liberty have a plethora of free agents, but that's hardly out of the ordinary considering the uncertainty surrounding the collective bargaining agreement.
The labor discussions don't appear to be hindering the search for a coach, as Kolb stated the team will go "as long as it takes' to find the right man or woman for the job. He did not, however, voice his desires for the qualities in the best candidate, reasoning that he did not want listeners and observers to claim that he was accusing Brondello of lacking these traits.
Maintaining a respect for Brondello was a common theme of Kolb's availability: even though the season led to her eventual metropolitan exile, Kolb lauded the way Brondello navigated the "unchartered waters" of an injury-riddled season.
Though New York was often the first to accept blame for its predicaments, the journey back to the championship was severely hindered by lengthy medical departures for each member of the big three, as well as champion starter Betnijah Laney-Hamilton, who was sidelined for the whole campaign by an offseason procedure.
Stewart's staunch post-playoff defense of Brondello partly centered on the way she kept the squad's spirits bright and Kolb noted the historic implications of her legacy in his final farewell.
"Sandy Brondello will always be remembered here as the first coach to win a championship for the New York Liberty, and what she accomplished here is not only everlasting, but it's necessary for us to evolve into what is next," Kolb said. "So I'm very grateful for the relationship we've built this past four years and will continue to have as we move forward. We thank Sandy Brondello for everything that she's done for this franchise."
Geoff Magliocchetti is a veteran sportswriter who contributes to a variety of sites on the "On SI" network. In addition to the Yankees/Mets, Geoff also covers the New York Knicks, New York Liberty, and New York Giants and has previously written about the New York Jets, Buffalo Bills, Staten Island Yankees, and NASCAR.