The New York Liberty are as good as they are fun

After an early-season win, Isabelle Harrison said, “I’m so happy to be on this side, finally.” It’s becoming ever-so-clear why.

The New York Liberty are an exception to rule of professional sports. Sitting at a WNBA-best 9-0, coming off a championship, they are an incessant parade of good vibes, whether celebrating their mascot’s birthday, a new training facility, or a dominant win led by future Hall of Famers.

No internal strife has bubbled to the surface. To an outside observer, it’s laughable that there could be any. Few fans ever get to experience such a level of bliss; most of this site’s visitors know this far too well.

Is the window we’re peering in from rose-tinted? Or do the New York Liberty themselves feel as blessed as they seem to be.

“I mean, I think it is that. I think that it’s a really positive group. I think they meet challenges head on,” said assistant coach Sonia Raman.

With Roneeka Hodges heading to the Connecticut Sun this past offseason, Raman joined the Liberty after four seasons with the Memphis Grizzlies, following a long tenure coaching the MIT women’s basketball team. As much as any diehard fan, she appreciates the obscene talent she finds herself coaching.

New York’s league-best defense, for example, does not just succeed because mega-anchors Breanna Stewart and Jonquel Jones are surrounded by length and athleticism. They cycle through coverages with incredible instincts and communication; opposing ball-handlers rarely know what they’re going to see on any given possession…

Said Raman: “Being new to the group I was really, like, interested in how that all came about, because I saw it on film when I was studying the team before I got here. This is a really, really high IQ team. So I think — credit to the coaching staff for leaning into that, letting them play on feel.

“That’s where, as I said before, the communication has to be there, so we just have to all be on the same page. And I think that there’s a lot of freedom to them to be able to do that, but we’re breaking this stuff down in practice so that in the game, they might be, you know, calling an audible, but it’s coming from something that we should all be on the same page about.”

The Liberty, despite their perfect record, have not been perfect yet. Their rebounding is still near the bottom of the league, and they’ve occasionally struggled vs. switching defenses, particularly when Jonquel Jones is on the bench.

But rather than a championship hangover, they have a championship glow. They have not overlooked any of their clearly inferior opponents, coming out with detailed gameplans on both a team and individual level.

Said Sabrina Ionescu of Tuesday’s victory over the Chicago Sky: “You know, the first game we played them, we hit 19 threes. So I had a feeling that they were probably going to try and not give up that many threes again.”

Lo and behold, she dominated inside the arc, showcasing the career-long improvements that have made her an All-WNBA talent…

None of this is by accident: “I think, obviously, I have great IQ for the game and can take in as much [information] as you know, they’re going to give on what I might see. Sometimes I see new things, and continuing to just figure out ways that I can improve and not really having any holes in my game. I mean, I just want to be a sponge. I want to continue to learn.”

You cannot talk to anybody on the Liberty without something similar. While Raman recognizes how special the Liberty are, she’s not starry-eyed: “There’s so much we can get better at. So I wouldn’t say that we’re looking at our record, we’re looking at the scoreboard. We’re preparing ourselves for ourselves, and we recognize on both ends of the floor that there’s a lot to improve on.”

This is true of any team in mid-June; even the 9-0 Liberty must improve over next three months in order to win a second straight championship. But you trust them to do so.

So does Isabelle Harrison: “It’s been refreshing, truly, to be here, and you’re only worried about basketball, and that’s kind of what everybody wants anyways. You don’t want to be worrying and dealing with other stuff. So it’s been really, really refreshing.”

Harrison, like Raman, is in her first year with the team. She arrived in New York after a decade in the WNBA, playing seven seasons with four different teams, and missing a scattered three due to various ailments.

The one thing Harrison hasn’t experienced in the W: a winning season. No Liberty player appreciates this success more than her, nor the atmosphere she’s been adopted into: “I’m big on our vibe in our locker room, and that’s been my biggest concern. I’ve been around when it’s been terrible locker rooms, and it just has been so toxic, and that’s not been the case here.”

Far from it, in fact.

Nyara Sabally to remain with team

In a somewhat surprising move, Nyara Sabally has elected to stay with the New York Liberty through EuroBasket. After missing seven games before returning against the Sky, New York’s backup big has declined to join her German national team for the tournament.

Suddenly, Sabally and Frenchwoman Marine Johannès are remaining with the Liberty through June. Only Leonie Fiebich will be departing for the back half of the month, set to miss the next seven Liberty games as she competes for Germany.

Head Coach Sandy Brondello said, “We support all of our players. It’s a personal decision, but for [Sabally] to make that decision shows, you know, she’s been injured, so I thought she took care of her. I think that’s the most important thing. But in return, obviously that kind of helps us as well, doesn’t it? We think Nyara — her future is so bright, and she’s only just scratched the surface.”

Nyara Sabally’s next chance to help the New York Liberty is on Saturday afternoon, when the best team in the WNBA takes on the Indiana Fever on the road. Tip-off is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. ET.