The New York Liberty are hiring Golden State Warriors assistant Chris DeMarco as their new head coach, in response to ESPN.
DeMarco, who was with the Warriors for 4 NBA titles, additionally served as the pinnacle coach for the Bahamas males’s nationwide basketball staff and as an assistant coach within the NBA All-Star Sport in 2015 and 2017.
The Liberty received the primary title in franchise historical past in 2024, and obtained off to a 9-0 begin final season. Accidents finally derailed their marketing campaign, nonetheless, they usually had been eradicated within the first spherical of the playoffs by the Mercury. Days after their Sport 3 defeat, the Liberty introduced that Brondello wouldn’t return as coach.
Throughout Brondello’s 4 seasons in cost, the Liberty went 107-53, received a franchise-record 32 video games in each 2023 and 2024, by no means missed the playoffs and made two Finals appearances. Along with their 2024 WNBA championship, Brondello additionally captured the Commissioner’s Cup title in 2023.
Regardless of all of Brondello’s success, common supervisor Jonathan Kolb and the Liberty’s mind belief felt it was essential to go in a unique route to get essentially the most out of their championship window.
“Popping out of this season and actually seeing an inflow of change on many groups, it made the choice timeline tangible and one which we could be actionable on,” Kolb mentioned throughout his exit interview concerning the determination to maneuver on from Brondello. “You may stand nonetheless or you possibly can embrace change and transfer ahead. My dedication is to maintain pushing the New York Liberty to new heights. We imagine that embracing this transformation will carry a freshness and an vitality to our group.”
The Liberty solely have two gamers underneath contract for 2026 — Leonie Fiebich and Nyara Sabally — and like each staff within the league face an interesting offseason. Breanna Stewart, Sabrina Ionescu and Jonquel Jones have all expressed a want to return, however it stays to be seen how free company will work after a brand new collective bargaining settlement is ratified. Along with making an attempt to re-sign their Huge Three, the Liberty can have massive selections to make about Natasha Cloud and Emma Meesseman.
