Liberty Head Coach Makes All-Star Offer to Caitlin Clark
New York Liberty head coach Sandy Brondello could use a break.
Any hope of the WNBA All-Star break living up to its title for Brondello was dashed when the Liberty stood as one of the top two teams at the Independence Day landmark on July 4. That landed Brondello the right to coach one of the two squads in the 2025 All-Star Game, which is set to be staged on Saturday night at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis (8:30 p.m. ET, ABC).
Fortunately for Brondello, she has some of the greater modern minds to help her out: in addition to most of her coaching staff making the trip, Brondello will get to align with Caitlin Clark, the face of the WNBA who is unable to partake in Saturday's exhibition due to a groin injury. Brondello is coaching a team captain and curated by Clark, the earner of the most fan votes, though the Indiana Fever star is unable to partake due to a groin injury that also kept her out of last Wednesday's visit to Brooklyn.
Speaking publicly prior to Saturday's game, Brondello said she'd be more than willing to turn duties over to Clark.
"Obviously unfortunate [that] Caitlin's not in this game, but she's going to still have a great impact on this team," Brondello said in video from the Liberty. "I will give the coaching hat to her as much as she wants, to be quite honest. We're going to play around with it a little bit, it'll be fun, too.
"I think you've seen it with the Fever. She's been very active on the sideline when she wasn't playing, so we'll utilize that as well."
The show has gone and then some sans Clark, though her absence will no doubt be felt by a local crowd that was ready to cheer her on. While her competitive nature remains unabated, it's clear that Clark has gotten close with some of her seafoam competitors: Clark was seen congregating with Brondello and Liberty All-Stars Sabrina Ionescu and Breanna Stewart after Wednesday's bout in Brooklyn and Clark made Ionescu one of her first picks in the exhibition's draft.
Sab, Stewie, and Sandy commiserate with Caitlin Clark in the tunnel #WNBA #LightItUpNYL pic.twitter.com/atkQXZq7n2
— Geoff Magliocchetti (@GeoffJMags) July 17, 2025
"It's about having a fun weekend and it's exciting," Brondello said. "It would have been nice, obviously, to coach Caitlin, but I'm still going to lean into her coaching ability as well and enjoy the whole experience."
Even the relative breezy nature of the All-Star Game, especially one that has reverted to a fantasy draft format, hasn't put a stop to Brondello's grind. The overseer of Australia's women's national basketball team was part of what's believed to be the first swap of coaches in a major All-Star Game, as she was originally set to lead the opposing group led by 2024 Finals foe Napheesa Collier (Minnesota). Collier's squad will now be coached by her own supervisor, longtime Lynx boss Cheryl Reeve.
Brondello is fully set to embrace the care-free nature of the game, one that will see her do battle with current protege Stewart, who was quickly scooped up by her business partner and fellow Connecticut alumna Collier.
"I've probably enjoyed the All Stars too much in the past, so I'm not goingt to try and be smarter this year," Brondello, who partook in Madison Square Garden's original WNBA All-Star Game as a member of the Detroit Shock in 1999, said. "It's a great thing for my assistant coaches to experience, I think that's the fun part. I enjoy getting to know some of the other players that you compete against, because it's very competitive, and when we're going against each other, and they get to know me.
"I think that's the fun part about it. But in the end, it's more about just celebrating these wonderful players that we have in this league. They are the faces This is a player-first [league], and that's that's what it should be about. It's not about me or anyone else. It's about the players. So for me, I want to put them in situations to go out there and have fun, and enjoy it."
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.