Liberty finally grab Title I in OT
New York wins first WNBA championship in Brooklyn
Okay, so the parade won’t be along Flatbush Avenue.
The Canyon of Heroes isn’t such a bad alternative for a franchise that has been waiting 28 years to call itself the best in the WNBA.
“I’ve been manifesting this moment for awhile, There’s no feeling like it,” said Liberty forward Breanna Stewart in the immediate aftermath of Sunday night’s 67-62 Game 5 overtime victory over the Minnesota Lynx before a record-setting crowd of 18,090 at Barclays Center.
Established during the league’s inaugural 1997 season and fruitless in its first five trips to the WNBA Finals, New York can finally hoist the trophy as champions of the best women’s basketball league on the planet.
And the Liberty did it right here in the heart of Downtown Brooklyn.
Albeit with plenty of spine-tingling moments due to the Lynx’ determination to spoil the party on the corner of Atlantic and Flatbush.
“Credit to Minnesota, they gave us a tough series,” Stewart ceded after grabbing her third WNBA crown and first here after capturing two titles and Finals Most Valuable Player awards in Seattle.
Though she and fellow All-Star Sabrina Ionescu endured a brutal shooting night, going a combined 5-for-34 from the floor, Stewart and company finally washed away the bad taste of last year’s Finals loss to Las Vegas.
They did it in front of a raucous fan base that has swelled exponentially in anticipation of this crowning achievement during the five years since the Liberty relocated to Brooklyn.
“The fans have been amazing everywhere we’ve gone,” gushed Stewart.
“To bring a championship to New York, first-ever in franchise history, it’s an incredible feeling. I can’t wait to continue to celebrate with the city. It’s going to be bonkers.”
It should be even more so on Thursday.
The Liberty will hold their championship parade from Battery Park to City Hall, where they will be feted with a ceremony befitting a team that won a franchise record-tying 32 regular-season games, knocked off Vegas in the semifinals and edged the resilient Lynx in a decisive fifth game.
Not to leave our borough out, the team will hold a special post-parade celebration at Barclays Center, beginning at 7 p.m.
“This Championship is not only for us and New York City – it’s for all Liberty Loyals and our Brooklyn community! We are honored to celebrate at the iconic Canyon of Heroes, and also come together with our passionate fans at our home in Brooklyn,” said Liberty CEO Keia Clarke.
“The community in the borough has embraced us wholeheartedly since we began playing at Barclays Center and we want to share this moment with them.”
Without a few key plays down the stretch, a very fortunate call and Finals MVP Jonquel Jones’ heroics, there might have been a parade in Minnesota this week.
Napheesa Collier scored 22 points and Kayla McBride added 21 for the Lynx, who fell just shy of winning their first title since 2017 and fifth overall.
“Congratulations to the Liberty on their first championship,” Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve said. “It took them 28 years, congrats to them. We were that close to our fifth, it just didn’t happen.”
Jones scored a team-high 17 points, going 5-of-10 from the floor and 7-of-7 at the free-throw line.
She also grabbed six rebounds and shrugged off losses in her previous three trips to the Finals, including a pair with Connecticut before she and Stewart decided to become Brooklynites.
“I could never dream of this,” said Jones. “You know how many times I’ve been denied. It was delayed. I am so happy to do it here.”
Stewart finished with 13 points and a game-high 15 rebounds and Ionescu only managed five points after misfiring on all but one of her 19 field-goal attempts.
What could have been a nightmare loss turned into the completion of the best season of Ionescu’s career, especially after she and Stewart captured gold medals in Paris this summer as part of Team USA at the 2024 Olympic Games.
“Just did whatever it took to win,” Ionescu said. “Believed in my teammates, believed in this entire organization. It takes everyone. You don’t do this alone, and we did it in New York.”
Despite Jones’ heroics, the Liberty would not have survived Game 5 without the contributions of super rookie Leonie Fiebich and reserve center Nyara Sabally.
Fiebich put up the most points ever by a first-year player in the Finals, including 13 in the clincher.
Sabally came off the bench in the winner-take-all thriller and also put up 13 points while pulling down seven boards.
Her steal and breakaway lay-up following a 3-pointer by Fiebich to begin the extra session put New York in front to stay, 65-60, with 3:14 to play.
“Whoever scores in overtime first usually wins,” Liberty coach Sandy Brondello said after winning her second WNBA title, the first coming with the Phoenix Mercury in 2014.
Stewart, who missed a critical free throw in Game 1 that resulted in an overtime loss at Barclays, drained a pair from the stripe with five ticks remaining in regulation Sunday just to get New York into OT.
Reeve took exception to what she considered a bail-out call by the officials on Stewart’s desperation drive to the basket in the closing seconds.
“We know we could have done some things, right, but you shouldn’t have to overcome to that extent,” Reeve said. “This s—- ain’t that hard. Officiating is not that hard.”
Winning Title I in Brooklyn was, however.
But now, the Liberty can relish it all week before the brain trust of Brondello and general manager Jonathan Kolb turn their attention to 2025.
“Hey, let’s not stop at one, though. Let’s go for two,” Brondello boasted.
“It’s hard to win because this league is so good,” she added. “You need a little bit of luck on your side, but you also need talent.”
With the deepest and most reliable bench in the league and a superstar-laden starting five, which also included Betnijah Laney-Hamilton and future Hall of Famer Courtney Vandersloot, the Liberty might just have a “Superteam” for the ages.
For now, however, they can all look forward to hanging the first championship banner at the building they’ve called home since Joe and Clara Wu Tsai brought the team to Brooklyn.
Something the Nets are still waiting for since moving here in 2012.
“After 28 years, we can finally say it: the New York Liberty are WNBA champions,” Kolb said.
“This achievement belongs to our fans who never wavered, each and every Liberty legend who paved the way, Joe Tsai and Clara Wu Tsai who breathed new life into an organization in need, and the entire city of New York that has been starving for a championship.”
Whether the franchise can keep every piece of this championship puzzle together or not, Stewart can at least share the memory of the Liberty’s initial crown throughout this coming winter.
“The wait was so, so, so worth it,” she admitted. “We talked about it two years ago when it was free agency, and we wanted to come together.
“You look back and me, JJ, Slooty, we all came together to win a championship,” Stewart added. “Last year we lost in the Finals. But look at us, now we’re here.”
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