Liberty Won't Renew Sandy Brondello's Contract After Playoff Loss, 2024 WNBA Title

The New York Liberty announced Tuesday they're moving on from head coach Sandy Brondello.

"We would like to thank Sandy Brondello for her everlasting impact on the New York Liberty," general manager Jonathan Kolb said. "Sandy finishes her tenure in New York as the winningest coach in franchise history, and she took us to never-before-seen heights as the first head coach to lead the Liberty to a championship. We wish Sandy the very best in her next chapter."

This move comes only a year after Brondello coached the Liberty to their first WNBA championship, though their title defense didn't go according to plan. New York finished fifth during the regular season and got bounced by the Phoenix Mercury in the first round.

Las Vegas Aces head coach Becky Hammon was among those who criticized the move.

"I didn't love it for Sandy, I have to be honest," Hammon told reporters Tuesday. "She's just won a championship. She's won in other places, and I know her to be a quality coach and a quality person. Those are rare sometimes to get that mixture of qualities as a head coach."

The seeds of Brondello's ouster may have been planted in the 2023 WNBA Finals.

The Aces were without Candace Parker throughout the entire series and then watched Chelsea Gray suffer an injury in Game 3 of the Finals. Still, they went on to beat New York 70-69 in Game 4 to repeat as WNBA champions.

While the Liberty ended on top in 2024, coming up short the year earlier and then exiting in the opening round this season may have been too much for the front office.

Firing Brondello presents some obvious risk with all of New York's key players hitting free agency, though.

The opportunity to play for the veteran coach was likely a selling point for Breanna Stewart and Jonquel Jones when they engineered their own moves to the Big Apple in 2023. Stewart signed as a free agent while Jones requested a trade from the Connecticut Sun and had one destination in mind.

Now, Kolb has to sell a clear vision to those two former MVPs along with four-time All-Star Sabrina Ionescu, in addition to any other marquee targets.

Laying out that broader plan will be tougher if the Liberty hire an unproven head coach or one without Brondello's lengthy track record.