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So, maybe we should be worried about the New York Liberty?
It’s been easy to dismiss disappointing play from the defending champs. First, the absence of Jonquel Jones could explain away their uneven play. Then, the arrival of Emma Meesseman seemed sure to cure any woes. Now, Breanna Stewart’s knee injury serves as yet another excuse.
But at some point, New York’s talent and experience, despite missing key players, should be enough. A 6-7 post-All-Star break record, while understandable, especially due to their compacted, road-heavy schedule, is still inexcusable. The Liberty’s 2025 roster is, arguably, better than the 2023 variant that first earned the “super team” moniker. Yes, they’ve been without Stewie, who remains a top-five player in the world, since July 26, but they currently have the reigning Finals MVP and a former regular-season MVP in Jones, a perennial All-WNBA guard in Sabrina Ionescu and another former Finals MVP and international superstar in Meesseman, plus one of the league’s best two-way guards in Natasha Cloud and a rising two-way wing in Leonie Fiebich.
On paper, that collection of players likely would be deemed superior to the Minnesota Lynx’s roster sans Napheesa Collier. Yet on the court, the Liberty lost to the Lynx for the third time this season on Saturday, overcoming an ill-fated first quarter to eventually take the lead before losing it in the game’s final two minutes to fall 86-80.
The loss put the Liberty back at No. 3 in WNBA standings, one game behind the second-place Atlanta Dream and only half a game ahead of the fourth-place Phoenix Mercury.
It also sent the Liberty to under .500 on the road at 8-9, a mark that, in the context of the WNBA’s new first-round playoff format, could be more cause for concern. In seasons prior, New York could expect a no-sweat first round, knowing they would host Games 1 and 2 in Brooklyn. Now, Game 2 will be on the road, and if the Liberty remain in the No. 3 seed, that projects to be a game at the Indiana Fever or the Golden State Valkyries, two other teams that, likewise, have proven to have strong homecourt advantages. New York split their two games in Indy while they were victorious in their first trip to Golden State, with the second scheduled for the beginning of September.
Still, it seems silly for a team of the Liberty’s quality, or at least their theoretical quality, to be worried about a possible first-round matchup against teams that sit around .500. But the evidence is mounting that this team is not only not indomitable, but incredibly beatable. Instead of demonstrating the sharpness requisite of the defending champions, their play too often devolves into undisciplined sloppiness, with mounting turnovers and poor transition defense allowing opponents to earn the kind of easy buckets that the Liberty, when at their best, feast on. In the halfcourt, the communication has been insufficient on both ends, resulting in defensive breakdowns and out-of-sync offensive process.
When searching for potential solutions, one tends to resort back to the team’s preponderance of talent, believing sheer ability will be the solve. Yes, the defense has dropped off, but the return of Stewart, whose outlier length allows her to erase teammates’ mistakes and eliminate opponents’ opportunities, should staunch their defensive slide. The continued integration of Meesseman will, eventually, produce near-unstoppable offensive chemistry. Jones, Ionescu and Fiebich will make the shots that matter most, just as they did last season. Cloud’s playoff resume indicates she will come up in the clutch. And remember, this team started the season 9-0, accumulating historic statistics all without Meesseman.
The motivated and circular reasoning starts to become a dizzying mess!
A win over the Lynx on Tuesday, the fourth and final regular-season matchup between the rivals, would begin to ease the anxieties. After that, the Liberty will have several more opportunities to convince that their championship mettle can still shine. On Saturday, they travel to Atlanta to meet the Dream in a potential battle for second place. Then, they close out August and welcome in September on another West Coast swing, visiting the Mercury, Valkyries and Seattle Storm. If Stewart’s projected timeline holds, she should be returning from her injury and back in the lineup around that time, possibly allowing New York to finally show off their full-strength superpowers—and show up anyone doubting their ability to defend the title.
