Work-Life Balance is Liberty's New 'Nightmare'
One, two, the New York Liberty is coming for you.
The New York Liberty are heralding nightmares on Atlantic Avenue and beyond by awarding difference-making players a wearable trophy in the style of the razor glove of Freddy Krueger, Robert Englund's scarred antagonist from the "Nightmare on Elm Street" slasher film franchise.
Breanna Stewart was first seen donning the glove following a 12-point, three-steal performance in Thursday's win over Chicago and head coach Sandy Brondello partly explained its purpose prior to Saturday's showdown with the Indiana Fever.
Sandy Brondello: "Dreams and Nightmares, they love that song, although I don't know it, but I know Freddy Krueger and it used to scare the crap out of me." She said the glove recipient goes to the most impactful player: Tash the first game, Stewie the second. (Q: @GeoffJMags) pic.twitter.com/nDVW1yLz8d
— Myles (@MylesEhrlich) May 24, 2025
"'Dreams and Nightmares,' that's one of their favorite songs," Brondello said, referring to the Meek Mill single. "Apparently, I don't know what it is, but, but I do know Freddy Krueger, and he used to scare the crap out of me ... We just highlight the player that we felt like [played] above in that game."
The Liberty, of course, achieved the ultimate dream last fall by securing their first postseason championship. Now they're looking to avoid the follow-up nightmare and has done so by merging business with pleasure in the very early going.
No one, perhaps, has embraced the merger better than newcomer Natasha Cloud, a two-time wearer of Freddy's glove after she prevented Caitlin Clark from launching a potential game-winner in Saturday's narrow yet emphatic 90-88 win in Indianapolis. Cloud has a 2019 championship ring from her time with the Washington Mystics and has been a vital part of finding the early repeat formula on both a personal and team-wide level.
As she lives up to the hype of standing as the Liberty's most prized offseason addition, Cloud has kept equally active off the floor: displaying what sort of bag Stewart has brought to the latest Liberty game has become its own unofficial web series on Instagram and she was also responsible for "icing" Brondello by presenting her with a diamond necklace prior to the Chicago win.
Y’all feel that breeze?!?
— New York Liberty (@nyliberty) May 22, 2025
Or is it just Coach @SBrondello’s ice 🌬️🥶 pic.twitter.com/IhQYkFHnl7
"There's a time to have fun, there's time to lock in and I think we have a good balance here," Brondello said. "Tash just brings so much energy and positive energy. W have a veteran team so I had, don't have any issues with [balancing]. Tash wants put a necklace on me. That's fine. I think they're talking about everyone getting one, but yeah, we'll see that. But this is a team that can really lock it in."
The proof is in the hardwood pudding: alongside their fall foes from Minnesota, the Liberty (3-0) is one of two perfect teams left on the WNBA ledgers entering Sunday. Despite some nagging issues, locking in has taken many different forms.
New York won its first two games by a combined 39 points and set a WNBA record with 19 three-pointers in the latter triumph over the Sky. Facing the surging Fever, the Liberty overcame a 27-point swing in the host's favor to escape with a victory. Trailing by 12 with just about eight minutes remaining, a speedy 16-2 run set the stage for a thrilling finish. Jonquel Jones put in all but two points of that tally, the outliers earned through Cloud's steal-turned-Stewart fastbreak.
Punting pomp and circumstance has already been a common them of this Liberty season. Their lone regular season home game to date was, of course, heralded by the bestowing of the championship rings they earned last fall and the raising of the banner commemorating their win. Reminders will continue to trickle in as familiar faces appear on the ledger: the visit to Chicago allowed them to see Courtney Vandersloot again and Kayla Thornton will bring her Golden State Valkyries to Brooklyn for a doubleheader this week.
Embracing the bejeweled burden, however, has been one thing the Liberty have commonly embraced as a team, whether one was around for last year's championship or not.
"What we're doing right now is a reflection and an appreciation for last season, and obviously we were very excited to see the rings," Stewart said after opening day's win over Las Vegas. "But once we walk out on that court, it's like, all right, stay in the now, because this team is hungry and they want to come after us with everything that they got. I thought we did a great job walking in. There's moments where we kind of lose it, and we bring each other back together and get it done."
"The goal is to always stay focused no matter what," added Kennedy Burke. "We enjoyed the moment, and then [Sabrina Ionescu] was like, okay, like, we got our rings. Now it's a new chapter for us. It's time to get busy, like, because we're going to be hunted the whole season."
Geoff Magliocchetti is on X @GeoffJMags
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.