PLAYING IT FORWARD
WNBA’s New York Liberty ready to make history
The championship buzz is building for the New York Liberty’s coming season. Thanks to recent trades that added Breanna Stewart, Courtney Vandersloot and Jonquel Jones to the roster, players and staff feel New York City’s WNBA team is poised for glory.
“We want to bring the championship back to New York,” said Liberty head coach Sandy Brondello, referencing the 1973 Knicks NBA championship win, the last time a city team won it all.
“It’s been a great offseason, and we had the ability to bring great players in. They complement the players we have, and I am excited to get to the work,” Brondella continued.
Liberty CEO Keia Clarke is just as optimistic about the coming campaign. “There is something exciting going on. We have a long legacy of fans and partners and this is the third season in our Barclay home. We want to restore our place as New York City’s team,” Clarke said.
New York is known as a basketball town, and New York women are part of that legacy. Before the WNBA was founded in 1996, there were star players and leagues that have inspired generations.
Both Brondello and Clarke speak to that, citing the women who led them to find a career in basketball.
Brondello grew up on a remote sugar cane farm in Australia and didn’t have the opportunity to play or watch team basketball. At age nine, she was making shots on the grass court her father built, and seeing her hero on TV furthered her passion.
“When the Olympics were on TV,
I saw Jennie Cheesman play. The following year she was one of my coaches and then after that, I got to play alongside her. It was surreal,” Brondello said.
As a multisport athlete growing up, Clarke was also encouraged by seeing female role models. “There are so many high-profile players and female athletes from New York that inspired me: Althea Gibson, Sue Bird and Nancy Lieberman,” said Clarke, noting that women have been playing basketball in the city for more than a century.
“The Spartan Girls of Brooklyn were playing in the city 100 years ago. Men started playing basketball in 1891 and women started playing just a few years later,” she said.
The Spartan Girls of Brooklyn played during the Black Fives Basketball Era, a period from 1904-1950 when Black men and women organized their own teams and leagues. Segregation prohibited Black men from playing with whites, but both men’s and women’s basketball thrived during this period with the all-Black teams gaining popularity.
The formation of the WNBA brought more opportunities and visibility for women’s basketball. In 1996, New York was selected as one of eight charter members of the WNBA, and Rebecca Lobo and Teresa Weatherspoon joined the team, bringing star power.
The Liberty has grown from there. “The existence of this team in New York is so important. The original Liberty team and the legacy of women who have played the game is important for the city and for fans,” said Clarke.