New York Liberty forward Breanna Stewart identified a lack of team synchronization as the primary cause for the franchise’s first-round playoff exit following their 2024 championship season. The 2025 campaign ended under former coach Sandy Brondello after a series loss to the Phoenix Mercury.
The Liberty experienced significant roster turnover and injury setbacks that disrupted the rhythm established during their title run. Stewart noted that the team struggled to replicate the seamless execution that defined their previous dominance in the league.
“I don’t this it’s a huge issue for me. You call it like a flow state,” Stewart said. “So, when you’re in that flow state where you’re reading and going off with your teammtes now, you have to have a chemistry, and you have to like keept that. So, we had a lot of changes between our Championship to our 2025 season. In trying to kind of course correct and create that flow state again very quickly, it just didn’t work.”
The team saw a statistical decline in rebounding, dropping from 36 per game in 2024 to approximately 33 last season. During a regular-season loss to Phoenix, the veteran forward publicly challenged the team’s performance standards.
“This is not championship-level basketball at this point, and everybody needs to recognize that and understand that we need to get there,” Stewart said.
Looking ahead to the next season under new head coach Chris DeMarco, the Liberty front office retained its core stars and added forward Satou Sabally. Stewart expressed confidence in the revamped roster’s physical advantages during training camp.
“It seems like we just have a lot of length,” Stewart said. “Anywhere you look. We’re long and we’re tall, and we’re gonna kind of use that to our advantage. I’m sure some people are gonna think that, ‘Oh, we’ll be too big.’ But [it] seems hard to stop.”
The forward also commented on the integration process for the new players as the team prepares for the upcoming schedule. The Liberty aim to translate their paper strength into on-court results starting in the coming weeks.
“So far, it looks like the team has really gelled and gotten the hang of it quickly,” Stewart said. “I was able to be in for most of practice today, which I was happy about, and then ramp up for Saturday.”
