The Liberty tip-off their 2021 campaign against the Indiana Fever at Barclays Center Friday night with no doubt they can improve from their 2-20 season.
“I could put my check on it that we’re gonna win more than two games,” Jazmine Jones said during the team’s virtual media day on Monday.
“We’re just looking forward to playing in front of our home fans and [at] Barclays and having somewhat a normal season.”
Before the party gets poppin’ for the WNBA’s 25th season, here’s a look at how the Liberty stand going into the summer.
The Liberty will be playing in front of actual fans this season in their new home. Single game tickets went on sale on Friday. It’ll be new territory for everyone who played last season with no fans in the Bradenton Bubble.
“You know we’re putting in the work this offseason,” Betnijah Laney said. “I think that it’ll be really good for us, as well as you know the fans and everybody else who, kind of saw New York last year as that two and 20 team.
“I think we’re going to really take a lot of people by surprise.”
The Liberty were supposed to make the move to Barclays Center official in 2020 as part of their entire team overhaul — which along with a new home arena, included new ownership (Joe and Clara Wu Tsai), leadership (GM Jonathan Kolb and head coach Walt Hopkins), franchise players and even a new logo. Their Barclays debut was delayed one year because of the coronavirus pandemic.
“It is a new season but it definitely feels different, being in New York and playing in front of fans, our families, you know, being in attendance,” Sabrina Ionescu said Monday.
The Liberty have undergone a massive transition since last year. Kia Nurse (traded), Amanda Zahui B (free agency), Paris Kea (free agency), Megan Walker (traded), Joyner Holmes (waived) and Jocelyn Willoughby (torn achilles) who all logged significant minutes in the 2020 pandemic bubble season are all gone.
During the offseason, the Liberty acquired a more defensive veteran presence, trading for the Seattle Storm’s Natasha Howard (2019 Defensive Player of the Year) and Sami Whitcomb, the Atlanta Dream’s Laney (2020 Most Improved Player) and veteran forward Asia Taylor.
Last year’s squad lacked true veteran guidance as the Liberty went into the WNBA bubble with seven rookies. Then they lost their biggest offensive and defensive chip when Ionescu, the 2020 top overall pick, went down with an injury early.
The Liberty held the No. 1 pick again heading into the 2021 draft, but traded back to select rookies Michaela Onyenwere and DiDi Richards — both of whom will likely get the normal rookie’s workload, unlike this year’s sophomores who were thrown into the fire last season amid all the veteran opt outs. They also added undrafted rookie Jasmine Bailey.
Which brings us to the Liberty’s returning veterans.
Layshia Clarendon, who had a child over the offseason, has been getting acclimated to family life in Brooklyn. Clarendon was the Liberty’s biggest free agent addition to the 2020 squad, but has yet to play a game in the Big Apple.
“Not having had fans yet, it hasn’t really sunk in,” Clarendon said of the move to Brooklyn. “It’s sunk in as I’ve been like walking around the streets and hearing the honking and realizing like wow I’m in New York.”
Bec Allen and Kiah Stokes are the only two players on the roster who’ve had experience playing in New York. Both were drafted in 2015.
It’s unclear if Allen (Australia), or Marine Johannes (France), a 2019 draft pick, will return this season amid commitments overseas and then needing to be with their national teams for training for the Tokyo Olympics. Allen did re-up with the Liberty, in a contract the details of which remained undisclosed per team policy. Stokes’ return has been dependent on when the Turkish Basketball League season finished — she, as a starter for Fenerbahçe Öznur Kablo, locked down a championship on Tuesday. So her return, pending COVID-19 protocols, will be soon.
Asia Durr (COVID-19) likely won’t be returning anytime soon and Han Xu (forfeited contract) will focus her talents with the Chinese national team, having played her final season with the Liberty in 2019 and opting out last season.
For anyone who watched any part of the 2020 season, expect to see Ionescu make her monstrous return to the court after missing all but three games because of a severe ankle injury.
“It kind of feels like my first season,” she said. “It basically is, but I think it’s just kind of the excitement and nerves around like not knowing really game-day routines, not really having any of that figured out and just kind of ironing that out now and getting those jitters out and then just excited to play.”
Hopkins limited Ionescu through camp to ensure a safe return and start to the regular season after the injury. He said on Monday that Ionescu was “getting pretty close to full go.”
Fellow second years Jones — the public face of the Liberty’s marketing campaign who also made the All-Rookie team last year — Kylee Shook and Neah Odom will also be back in the mix, though likely not with the same heavy workloads last season demanded.
The Liberty also added a new assistant coach to their group, recently retired WNBA player, Jacki Gemelos, who spent last season playing with the Washington Mystics.
In 2020, Commissioner Cathy Engelbert and the WNBA Players Association agreed to a new Collective Bargaining Agreement. The new CBA included increased player compensation through competition. On Wednesday, Engelbert and the league delivered on that promise, announcing the Commissioner’s Cup, an in-season tournament that would run through before the Olympic break.
“The idea to create a special in season tournament actually came from the players themselves,” Engelbert said in an interview with Yahoo! Sports. “The Commissioners Cup is a reflection of that promise we made.”
Winners of the competition will get $500,000 in prize money, along with a separate Cup trophy.
Games in the tournament will be each team’s first home and away game against conference rivals for a total of 10 games each. The Liberty’s season opener against the Fever will also be their first game of the tournament.