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The confetti was falling and the joy was rising inside Barclays Center.
This was the night of Oct. 20, 2024, a night like no other in Liberty history. They worked an overtime shift and won Game 5 of the WNBA Finals against Minnesota to claim the franchise’s first championship in season No. 28.
“It was incredible,” Sabrina Ionescu said, flashing back after a training camp practice this week at Barclays. “I think you could always dream about what it’s going to feel like to actually win a championship, but you never really know until you do it.
“To be able to do it here in New York, that’s the way it was supposed to happen, like, to do it in our own arena with our own fans. You kind of look up and you see the fans hugging and crying and celebrating and they’re playing New York music on the speakers, with confetti coming out. There’s no better ending to a championship run than that.”
When it was over, their coach, Sandy Brondello, said, “Let’s go for two.”
Now the Liberty are about ready to start pursuing that repeat feat. Season No. 29 tips off May 17 inside their Brooklyn home against Las Vegas. The Aces were the lone WNBA team to repeat over the past 22 years, doing it in 2023. As Brondello put it, “It is hard to repeat because this is the best league in the world.”
The question is, after winning first prize and experiencing the thrill of a ticker-tape parade, will the Liberty’s hunger to win another be the same?
The answer comes with no doubt in their minds.
“Oh, it’s there; it’s there, for sure,” said Jonquel Jones, the 6-6 center who took the Finals MVP trophy. “I don’t think anybody’s coming in with this expectation that the season is going to be like a breeze or super easy.
“But we also understand now that it’s a privilege to be the hunted. It’s a privilege to be that team that everybody has circled off on their calendar, and everybody is going to be ready to play us. But the hunger is there.”
In fact, Ionescu said that “there’s probably more of a hunger,” that while the core mostly remains, there are several new players and “you do them a disservice if you’re coming in with kind of a championship hangover.”
The other member of the Big Three, six-time All-Star forward and three-time champ Breanna Stewart, also conceded that “repeating is the hardest” thing to do.
“For us, we know that what we did last year was amazing and incredible,” said Stewart, their top scorer at 20.4 points per game. “Now we’re focused on what we can do this year, being consistently great at everything we do.”
Betnijah Laney-Hamilton is expected to miss the season after knee surgery in March and Courtney Vandersloot took her point guard skills back to Chicago.
Still, Jones said, “I think we’re better than last season.”
They can look for even more from All-Rookie wing Leonie Fiebich after hitting 43.3% of her threes and then ascending to the starting five for the playoffs.
And here’s another reason: The Liberty sent two first-round picks to Connecticut to acquire Natasha Cloud.
“That was a player we’ve had circled for a long time,” GM Jonathan Kolb said.
The 33-year-old point guard, a WNBA champ with Washington in 2019, can take some ball-handling responsibilities off of Ionescu’s plate or play off the ball. She can also defend well on the perimeter as her three memberships on an All-Defensive Team suggest.
But of all the things she brings, what are the Liberty going to end up valuing the most?
“My energy,” Cloud said. “… I’m here for the good vibes and a little bit of toughness, too.”
Kolb also re-signed Marine Johannes after a year’s absence. The French guard brings her ball-handling skills, plus an off-balance three-point touch and flashy feeding ability.
Two more quality additions to the depth are 31-year-old forward Isabelle Harrison, a seven-year vet who signed as a free agent, and 34-year-old guard Rebekah Gardner, who missed last season following an Achilles injury.
“We brought it back two years in a row because … we knew we had the players,” Brondello said. “But now when you win, there’s a little bit of change to make it more fresh.”
So it begins again. And the Liberty look loaded again.
“We’re so versatile and we’re so deep,” Cloud said, “and that’s what’s going to make us special all year.”
LIBERTY SCHEDULE
MAY
17-Las Vegas, 1 p.m.
22-at Chicago, 8 p.m.
24-at Indiana, 1 p.m.
27-Golden St., 7 p.m.
29-Golden St., 7 p.m.
30-at Washington, 7:30 p.m.
JUNE
1-Connecticut, 3 p.m.
5- at Washington, 7:30 p.m.
10-Chicago, 8 p.m.
14-at Indiana, 3 p.m.
17-Atlanta, 7 p.m.
19-Phoenix, 7 p.m.
22-at Seattle, 7 p.m.
25-at Golden St., 10 p.m.
27-at Phoenix, 7 p.m.
29-at Atlanta, 3 p.m.
JULY
3-Los Angeles, 7 p.m.
6-Seattle, 1 p.m.
8-Las Vegas, 8 p.m.
13-Atlanta, 3 p.m.
16-Indiana, 7:30 p.m.
22-Indiana, 8 p.m.
25-Phoenix, 7:30 p.m.
26-Los Angeles, 7 p.m.
28-at Dallas, 8 p.m.
30-at Minnesota, 8 p.m.
AUGUST
1-at Connecticut, 7:30 p.m.
3-at Connecticut, 1 p.m.
5-Dallas, 7 p.m.
8-at Dallas, 7:30 p.m.
10-Minnesota, 12:30 p.m.
12-at Los Angeles, 10 p.m.
13-at Las Vegas, 9:30 p.m.
16-at Minnesota, 2 p.m.
19-Minnesota, 7 p.m.
23-at Atlanta, 2 p.m.
25-Connecticut, 7 p.m.
28-Washington, 7 p.m.
30-at Phoenix, 10 p.m.
SEPTEMBER
2-at Golden St., 10 p.m.
5-at Seattle, 10 p.m.
9-Washington, 7 p.m.
11-at Chicago, 8 p.m.
