It is a New York state of mind.
When Kennedy Burke swished her fourth 3-pointer of the night, she did have a clue that she had helped the reigning champion New York Liberty make history and break a WNBA and franchise record for 3-pointers made in a game. She just thought she was helping her team complete the mission and put together a dominant performance with a 99-74 win over the Chicago Sky on Thursday night.
“I got the ball, and I just shot it because I was wide open. That’s my role on the team, just to shoot when I’m open and just make big plays,” Burke said after the game. She came off the bench and was red hot, contributing 17 points.
It was the kind of night when the Liberty could do little wrong and showed their chemistry. Every member of the starting lineup found their range and hit at least one 3-pointer, with newcomer Natasha Cloud also hitting four. The team shot 55.2 percent from the field. In case anyone was still wondering, it was clear that the Liberty did not have a championship hangover or lose momentum from last season, when they beat the Minnesota Lynx in the Finals.
On Saturday, the Liberty started the regular season with a ring ceremony in front of their family, friends and home fans and a 92-78 win over the Las Vegas Aces. According to head coach Sandy Brondello, it was not a difficult task to get her players to lock in and focus after celebrating. This is a team focused on repeating their championship feat.
Embed from Getty Images“We’re motivated. We wanted to celebrate. We had that, we had the ring ceremony, but we quickly just reset and moved on. What we did last year was great, but that’s last year,” Brondello said. “We have a little bit of a different team. And, yeah, of course, we want to win another championship, but we know there’s areas we want to continue, keep getting better in. So, we’re pretty focused.”
The majority of last year’s championship team is back, though the Liberty made a key addition in Cloud. She played with the Phoenix Mercury in 2024, then was traded twice in the offseason, first to the Connecticut Sun and then to the Liberty. She has added an energetic feisty presence to New York on and off the court. On Thursday night, she had 18 points and eight dimes. She said the Liberty’s focus has always been on themselves, and that helped them stay locked in even as their lead over Chicago ballooned to as many as 31 points.
“One thing that I love that Coach Sandy sets a precedent before every game is, it’s about us. Obviously, we’re going to prepare for the team that we’re playing against tonight. It was the Sky. But even though we’re playing against the Sky, it’s still us, as the Liberty,” Cloud said. “So, we want to be better in all these areas, and especially when the game is getting tight, we know we need to lock in a little bit more, be more intentional on both sides of the ball.”
The Liberty’s unique ability to share the ball and not care who gets the shots or the credit, makes their offense nearly impossible to defend. In 2024, the Liberty were second in the league in total assists, and they have continued to make ball movement a No. 1 priority. Cloud alone had eight of the team’s 25 assists on Thursday night.
“That’s just who we are on this team. The ball is always going to find the right player,” Cloud said. “And I think again, a precedent that was started even when I came in my first day. We make the right plays, we play the right way, and we find the right people. So, you’re going to see [Breanna Stewart] drive, and if she has to spray out, she’s going to kick it out. Not a lot of franchise players do that, but we have some of the most unselfish franchise players, and that just trickles down once you have your top players starting that way.”
The win on the floor at Wintrust Arena was not the only story line for the Liberty on Thursday. The Athletic reported the Liberty recently brought on investors at a team valuation of $450 million, which is believed to be the largest team valuation in professional women’s sports to date. The hope is to use the capital raised to build a new state-of-the-art, 75,000-square-foot practice facility in Brooklyn, which would give the team even more of an advantage when vying for free agents with the rest of the league.
Liberty coach Brondello joked that the valuation news was above her pay grade but added that it shows the commitment made by the team’s owners, Clara Wu Tsai and Joe Tsai, who also own the Brooklyn Nets.
“It’s really about our ownership’s commitment since Day 1, them coming in. And I thought that was pretty cool. And I mean their investment,” she said. “And, you know, obviously what our team does on the court, but what we do off the court as well, too. So pretty exciting. I think it’s great for the WNBA, and I’m sure it’s going to continue to grow over these next years as well.”
The Liberty will get a tough test on Saturday as the team travels to Indiana to face Caitlin Clark and the Fever, who are 2-1 after picking up a close 81-76 win over the Atlanta Dream on Thursday night. The game will air on CBS Sports and will be an early test for New York.
Meanwhile, the 0-2 Chicago Sky continue to struggle to gel. Angel Reese scored only two points, both from the free-throw line. Veteran Courtney Vandersloot, playing against her old team, was the only starter who scored in double figures with 14. The Sky turned the ball over 24 times and gave up 27 points on those turnovers. The contrast between the two teams was hard to miss.
