New York Liberty general manager Jonathan Kolb cited a ‘rapidly changing’ WNBA and emphasized firing coach Sandy Brondello was not just about results in his first remarks to reporters since the team announced it would not exercise her contract option for the 2026 season following the Liberty’s early playoff exit last week.
Brondello, 57, was the winningest coach in franchise history and was a year removed from leading the Liberty to their first WNBA championship in 2024. Her abrupt exit, even after notable Liberty players came to her defense, has drawn polarizing reactions and criticism from around the league.
‘Often these decisions mark fork-in-the-road moments for organizations and you can stand still or you can embrace change and move forward, and my commitment is to keep pushing the New York Liberty to new heights,’ Kolb told reporters in New York during a news conference on Thursday, September 25. ‘We believe that embracing this change will bring a freshness and an energy to our group.’
The Liberty finished with a 27-17 record during the 2025 regular season and were the No. 5 seed in the playoffs. The team started the season with nine-game win streak, but a litany of injuries derailed its momentum. Breanna Stewart, Sabrina Ionescu and Jonquel Jones all missed games due to various ailments. New York lost in the first round of the 2025 WNBA playoffs to the Phoenix Mercury.
Stewart and Ionescu each stood up for Brondello when faced with questions about her job security last week. Both are among the Liberty’s prominent free agents this offseason. Kolb indicated the players were not consulted when management chose to jettison Brondello, but said he has ‘the utmost confidence that they want to be back with us’ when discussing his stars’ pending contract situations.
Kolb offered few specifics into the franchise’s reasoning for seeking a new coach or the traits it’s looking for in the successful candidate, only that the organization has a ‘clear vision’ of what it wants. He did note, though, that the team’s 3-point attempt and free throw rate dropped relative to the rest of the league and the Liberty’s starting lineup ended the season ranked lower offensively among WNBA teams despite averaging more points per possession than it did in 2024 while winning a championship.
‘I actually think Sandy did a good job navigating this group through uncharted waters, through injuries and a lack of availability,’ Kolb said. ‘… This decision comes after a thorough examination of what the New York Liberty need as we move forward into a future of an ever-evolving WNBA.’
Brondello was initially hired in 2022 and authored back-to-back 32-8 campaigns in 2023 and 2024, culminating in last year’s WNBA Finals victory over the Minnesota Lynx.
