NY Liberty Reloaded: The WNBA Champs Return With a Target on Their Backs

Title: NY Liberty Reloaded: The WNBA Champs Return With a Target on Their Backs

Janae Pierre: From WNYC, this is NYC Now. I'm Janae Pierre. If you're like me, you're happy to see the weekend. It's an exciting one for basketball fans, whether you're rooting for the Knicks or the Liberty. That's right, the champs are back from a celebratory off season.

Speaker 2: The New York Liberty are the champions of the WNBA and the city will be celebrating with a ticker-tape parade.

Janae Pierre: The top dogs of the WNBA start their new season Saturday afternoon against the Las Vegas Aces at Barclays Center. The Liberty entered the year with sky high expectations and a retooled lineup, but the team has also suffered some early injury setbacks. Meanwhile, they're adjusting their style of play as the league itself gets more competitive and more crowded with talent. Joining me to discuss the season ahead is sports reporter Jackie Powell. Jackie, the New York Liberty made history last year by finally bringing home a WNBA title. What's the energy like around this team right now as they start their title defense?

Jackie Powell: The energy is just really focused. The vibe around the team was, "We are going to try as hard as we can to repeat." You had Liberty general manager Jonathan Kolb say at his media press conference that their goal is to become an iconic franchise and the way that you do that is by winning. You also have some new players on this roster who have a hunger to win a championship themselves. Jonquel Jones said to us, she said, "You know what, this has probably been one of the best training camps I've ever had."

Janae Pierre: One of the biggest off-season moves was bringing in Natasha Cloud. For listeners who may not know much about Cloud, how would you describe what she brings to this team?

Jackie Powell: Natasha Cloud is one of the best perimeter defenders in the league. She is a guard who can defend not only guards, but she can defend wings as well. When she was in Phoenix last season playing for the Mercury, there were even some instances where they played her defending power forwards which wasn't ideal, but she was able to do it just because she's super strong. I bring that up because you think about the player who she is replacing, Betnijah Laney-Hamilton, who will be out for the entire season after a meniscus.

Janae Pierre: Yes. Really nasty meniscus injury. Yes.

Jackie Powell: Jonquel Jones actually said that Betnijah Laney-Hamilton was the team's best one on one threat. The fact that you're adding Cloud in her place, it's going to fill a lot of what she does.

Janae Pierre: Yes. Jonquel Jones had a huge postseason performance last year and she was crowned Finals MVP when the team won it all. Jackie, I want to talk about JJ's expectations this year, because Breanna Stewart is still recovering from surgery. It seems like the load is going to fall on Jones pretty early this season. What are your thoughts on that?

Jackie Powell: I think that is a fair assumption to make. I do think Breanna Stewart, they are going to ease her in to playing. They are not going to rush her. The fact that she looked pretty good in that second preseason game, that is a good sign, but I think you're exactly right. While Stewie is still trying to get her legs under her and get back used to playing, Jonquil Jones will have much more of a load. It's a load that she is more than willing to take.

I expect Jonquel Jones to be getting even more shots from the perimeter than she did. In addition to the offense is going to allow Jonquil to drive. A lot of the time in the offense, last season, she'd be on the block. She'd be posted up, she'd be setting screens on the perimeter. I think they really want to give JJ the space for her to be able to just blow by the less athletic bigs that are guarding her.

Janae Pierre: Yes, let's stick with Stewie for a second. We know that she powered through injury last post season and had this surgery during the off season. You mentioned that she looked pretty good during that second preseason game, but seriously, how is her recovery going right now?

Jackie Powell: It's interesting you ask because I spoke to an orthopedic surgeon that is not associated with the team and it was a partial mastectomy. What that is is she got her meniscus shaved off on that part of her knee, just to clean it up because it had been bothering her. In my conversation with this orthopedic surgeon, she laid out to me, usually it takes around two-ish months for professional athlete to be at their typical level.

She got this surgery in mid-March and so we are coming up on mid-May. She's very much so on schedule. Now it's just about her feel on the court. She'll also be learning this new system because she was limited in practice early on. It's going to be a work in progress for Stewie, but I expect her to be at her full form by early June.

Janae Pierre: There's another off season move that may be out of your wheelhouse, Jackie, but Rihanna has joined the team as well. I'm wondering what can you tell us about the beauty partnership between the New York Liberty and Fenty Beauty. For listeners who don't know, Fenty is Riri's very popular billion-dollar cosmetics brand.

Jackie Powell: Yes. One could argue that it was Ellie the Elephant who manifested this, and I say that with all seriousness.

Janae Pierre: [laughs] I know it. That's why I'm laughing.

Jackie Powell: There was a video that Popsugar took of Ellie last season. It was one of those-- or what's in your purse? One of those videos. She's taken out all the things. There were earrings. There was a Fenty blush, Fenty, Fenty eyeliner, Fenty mascara. We've seen this partnership manifest during the team's content and media day. They got to use the different Fenty Beauty and Fenty skin products to make them look all beautiful and allow their skin to shine.

Janae Pierre: A champion's glow is what I'd call it.

Jackie Powell: [laughs] Yes. A champions glow. Yes.

Janae Pierre: What does success look like for the Liberty this year? Is it championship or bust?

Jackie Powell: It is. Sandy Brondello, their head coach, said that it was going to be their most difficult season yet. Their goal is to make it back to the WNBA finals and win a back-to-back title, which is one of the hardest things you can do in the WNBA. The Las Vegas Aces did do it quite recently in 2022 and 2023, but prior to that, it was not done in 20 years.

Janae Pierre: What will you be watching for in this first matchup against the Las Vegas Aces? I mean, surely Aja Wilson and the team, they're all coming with a chip on their shoulder, right?

Jackie Powell: Oh, absolutely. I think it was Chelsea Gray, who's the Aces point guard. When she found out what her team's first game was on the schedule, she was like, "Oh yes. We are going to crash their party."

Janae Pierre: The New York Liberty better be ready. That's sports reporter Jackie Powell. Jackie, thanks for joining us.

Jackie Powell: Thank you for having me.

Janae Pierre: Thanks for listening to NYC Now. I'm Janae Pierre. Enjoy the rest of your weekend. We'll be back on Monday.

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