New York liberty Shock WNBA World By Firing Underperforming Coach
The New York Liberty sent shockwaves through the WNBA by parting ways wiht head coach Sandy Brondello following an early playoff exit. The decision, announced after the Liberty were eliminated by the Minnesota Lynx, underscores a growing trend of heightened expectations and increased accountability within the league.
The move was met with mixed reactions. WNBA veteran and Minnesota Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve defended Brondello, stating, “When you have a good coach, you keep the good coach. And that doesn’t mean you win every year. It’s really hard to rip up a foundation and start over.” Reeve pointed to her own long tenure with the Lynx, since 2010, as an example of stability. She also expressed confidence in Brondello’s future, saying, “I think Sandy is a heck of a coach and I think Sandy will land on her feet like she always does. I am absolutely thrilled if I am Seattle, Toronto, and Portland, that I was just gifted a championship-level coach.”
However, Liberty owners Joe and Clara Wu Tsai clearly felt a change was necessary. The 2023 WNBA Finals saw Brondello’s team comprehensively defeated by the Las Vegas aces, despite the Aces being without two starters. The 2024 playoffs proved equally challenging, with the Liberty narrowly overcoming Reeve’s Lynx in a hard-fought series. as Defector‘s Maitreyi Anantharaman observed after the first game of that series, “Sometimes I have trouble squaring Liberty fandom…with Liberty basketball, the actual and frequently vexing product…no team has a worse ratio of stressful watching to relief in victory.”
Critics pointed to a perceived lack of offensive cohesion under Brondello, noting a reliance on individual talent rather than a structured system for generating quality shots. Despite a star-studded roster featuring Breanna Stewart, Sabrina Ionescu, and Jonquel Jones – who started and finished a game together only 12 times this season due to injuries – the Liberty often struggled with execution, particularly after timeouts and at halftime. Observers felt Brondello was frequently outcoached.
Ultimately, the Tsais held a singular focus. According to ESPN’s Alexa Philippou, “Liberty brass considered nothing short of a championship to be a success this season.” This uncompromising standard reflects a shift in the WNBA landscape. Increased investment in the league, coupled with more aspiring ownership groups, is driving up expectations and leading to greater coaching and front-office turnover. As Defector previously noted, this trend is likely to continue.
Reeve suggested that new ownership groups in Toronto and Portland are likely to emulate the Tsais’ win-at-all-costs approach, rather than the more lenient strategies seen in organizations like those in Dallas and Chicago. The growing competitiveness of the WNBA suggests that the gap between prosperous and struggling franchises will only widen in the coming years, placing increased pressure on coaches to deliver results.
