Liberty fights through past disappointments, grueling and difficult series to conquer the throne: “It’s a picture-perfect ending”

NEW YORK – Here in the five boroughs, an incongruous color was increasingly breaking out of the fall palette. A seafoam hat on the streets. A branded t-shirt in the local park. A dog bandana. Blocks from Barclays Center, a page of sports talk about New York teams competing for championships flew toward passersby.

They're going to win this tonighthe insisted. Sabrina Ionescu heard the same thing all over town the day before Game 5, which was a winner-takes-all game. You will do that. You're going to do it in New York.

And this New York Liberty team, carrying a scar and nearly three decades of disappointment, pulled it off with a packed city and a busy arena behind them, defeating the Minnesota Lynx 67-62 in overtime in Game 5 on Sunday night. It is the city's first basketball championship since the New York Nets won the ABA title in 1974.

“They longed for a championship here and to know that we were the first to do it in the WNBA here for the New York Liberty, like… I can't put it into words,” Ionescu said in the early post. Game celebration stages of winning their first WNBA title. “It's exciting. Everyone is crying, everyone is celebrating. Confetti comes down. It’s just special because this was our goal from the beginning.”

The Liberty had come close so many times, only to respond with heartbreak. They constantly heard that they were the only original franchise in its founding city without a championship. It couldn't be done without trying. They reached four Finals in the league's first six seasons, but never won during the Houston Comets dynasty era. They built a strong fan base in the league's largest city, regularly drawing 14,000 fans to the legendary Madison Square Garden during the league's lively early seasons.

One of them was a rising young star from Central New York who made the five-hour trek with a teammate.

“I remember standing a few rows back and seeing those W players and just being in awe,” Breanna Stewart said. “It seems like the lights shine even brighter as a child. It’s almost like watching it on TV and hoping to be there one day.”

Stewart lifted her two young children amid streamers and confetti on Center Court on Sunday, a postgame serenade she knows well. She's done that twice in Seattle, the organization that named her No. 1 in 2016 after winning four titles at UConn. There she was the aspiring MVP under the guidance of an experienced point guard in Sue Bird.

In New York, she is the face that feels the pressure of the city most clearly. It grew when she missed a winning attempt in the 2023 final that would have forced Game 5.

“This is more personal,” Stewart said, a bottle of champagne in front of him and a pair of safety goggles on his head. “Just because I’m from New York. I'm from upstate. And I came here for a reason. And that means winning a championship.”

In the years after Stewart attended her first WNBA game at Madison Square Garden and collected a house's worth of accolades, the Liberty were still at the top of the league. They reached the semi-finals and collected stars.

Sue Wicks, Teresa Weatherspoon, Becky Hammon, Swin Cash, Tina Charles, Crystal Robinson.

None of them lifted a trophy for the city. Stewart began her career playing against the Liberty in “the most famous arena in the world,” but in 2018, Knicks owner and then-Liberty owner James Dolan sent the team to the dingy little Westchester County Center outside of town. Stewart remembers having to walk up the stairs to get to the visitors' locker room. It resembled a girls AAU game more than a professional product.

Dolan also put the team up for sale and in 2019, Brooklyn Nets owners Joseph and Clara Wu Tsai purchased the team. They moved it to Brooklyn and invested, changing the logo for the first time to incorporate the Statue of Liberty's torch and add seafoam green.

“This can happen if you have an intention and dedicate resources, care and attention to it,” Wu Tsai said during the trophy ceremony.

The following year, the draft lottery balls threw the franchise a gift with the No. 1 overall pick. It gave them the right to draft Ionescu, the NCAA triple-double queen, around whom they could build a championship team. She missed all but ten quarters of her rookie year due to an ankle injury that hampered her in her first few seasons. She called it “dark days” after the COVID-19 pandemic cut short her senior year in Oregon.

General manager Jonathan Kolb dreamed big around them and wrote three names on his whiteboard ahead of the 2023 free agency period. He built the league's first superteam by bringing in Stewart, signing star point guard Courtney Vandersloot to play alongside and manage Ionescu, and trading for former MVP Jonquel Jones.

“Jonathan really did a great job of bringing these players to New York and selling the vision that we had here,” said Liberty head coach Sandy Brondello, in her third season at the helm. “We wanted to win. New York has never won before. Now we are the first ever to go down in the history books. I mean, that makes me very proud because people think it’s easy.”

The excitement grew as they accumulated more victories. The number of visitors increased. Barclays became a Liberty matchday destination while the squad led New York to their first final since 2002. They fell short at home to the Aces in the 2023 Finals. Las Vegas was without two starters and yet the Liberty couldn't take advantage. Brondello remembered the defeat all year long in his renewed quest.

They almost got another scar in one of the toughest finals in league history, which they almost missed. The Liberty blew an 18-point lead in Game 1, stunned their loyal crowd and lost in overtime. They had a chance to tie the game in Game 4, but seemed rushed and too urgent. Minnesota won it on free throws.

It was heartbreaking not to finish the series back then, Vandersloot said.

“But I knew this moment would be special,” Vandersloot said in the hallway at Barclays as music blared in celebration in the club room. “It’s going to be special for everyone involved and it’s going to be special for the fans too with everyone just pouring into us.”

Here's what Stewart said after the loss in Game 4. New York was second in attendance behind the Indiana Fever and had a title at stake. They have regained celebrity fans decades after the Joan Jett voodoo doll days that Brondello, a former player, remembers, when the team had two NFL teams, two NHL teams and two MLB teams in one The large area caused a stir.

“We had faith in the city behind us and the opportunity to make it at home is a storybook thing,” Ionescu said. “There’s no other way to say it. And it wasn't pretty. That's kind of the beauty of it. It wasn't going to turn out like this crazy win. We would stick together. And that’s exactly what we did tonight.”

They believed, sure. They also weren't at their best during a plodding offensive game in which the Liberty had to find a way to win ugly. It looked almost the same as last year. They almost missed Game 5 as Ionescu and Stewart struggled and the series required another overtime. New York never closed the door and it was much harder than it had to be.

“Whether we win or lose, we want to put it all on the line,” Stewart said. “Because last year, when we lost, there was more in the tank. And this year that didn’t happen.”

Fans beamed as New York took the lead in the third quarter and began, “We've got everything we've got!” We've got everything we need!” chants that match the team's pregame huddle chants this year . They called for Nyara Sabally, an unlikely X-factor player who was breaking out in a big lineup that Brondello had never used. During the postgame celebrations, everyone stopped and shouted at Jones' surprised face when he learned she had been named Finals MVP in her fourth appearance.

Jones was outspoken last year during another ordeal of a New York Finals in which she was tired of losing after making it twice with the Connecticut Sun. Stewart and Jones, the team's two league MVPs, hugged after the buzzer.

“It was just perfect to be able to hug JJ,” Stewart said. “Actually, I wanted to say she guided us.”

When they spoke two years ago, it was about coming together to win a championship for a franchise that had never made it. For the people who couldn't do their jobs.

Cash and Weatherspoon shed tears on the sidelines as the 2024 squad celebrated. Wicks has been on the sidelines all season. Actors Aubrey Plaza and Jason Sudeikis wore the Seafoam in front of over 18,000 people at Barclays and many more on television.

“The support we received from all sides is the reason why we were able to win this game,” said Ionescu.

Every player said the same thing. They were excited to do it for New York. And now they are waiting for the parade.