Breanna Stewart And Liberty Stars Withheld Support Before Chris DeMarco Was Fired After One Season

The New York Liberty fired head coach Chris DeMarco after a 26-18 season and a playoff sweep by Atlanta, after stars Breanna Stewart, Sabrina Ionescu, and Jonquel Jones withheld public endorsements for his return.

New York officially announced the decision to part ways with DeMarco on Tuesday, November 3.

The franchise now faces another period of leadership transition at the highest level.

DeMarco spent only one campaign in the role after arriving from the NBA ranks.

His departure concludes a turbulent year defined by inconsistent play, execution blunders, and growing tension.

Expectations in New York were undeniably high entering the season.

The Liberty featured a star-studded core built around Stewart, Ionescu, and Jones.

Yet, when the final buzzer sounded on their postseason, the backing from the locker room had evaporated.

SILENCE FROM THE CORE

Following their postseason elimination, New York’s primary stars met with the media for their exit interviews.

Reporters pressed the roster on the status and direction of the coaching staff.

Stewart, Ionescu, and Jones pointedly avoided giving firm public support for DeMarco.

None of the three perennial stars stepped forward to endorse his return to the bench.

In professional basketball, a head coach rarely survives when franchise cornerstones decline to offer public backing.

Stewart, who has captured three league championships across her storied career, spoke candidly about the team's shortcomings.

She explained that the squad failed to maintain the daily focus required of a true championship contender.

“We want to win a championship every single time we step on the court,” Stewart stated during her final media availability.

She noted that achieving that goal requires elite execution from opening night through the final game of the calendar.

“But it’s really hard in this league, and in order to do that, you need to be consistent for the full 44 games, and now it’s going to be 50,” Stewart said.

The league has expanded its schedule, making extended focus and preparation even more demanding.

Stewart did not mince words when evaluating the team’s overall trajectory under DeMarco.

“I don’t think we were consistent throughout the season,” Stewart admitted.

She acknowledged that the group tried to rally late in the year when the stakes were highest.

“We started to show some life and peak a little bit towards the end and really in the playoffs, but this is not like cramming for a test…You gotta be ready and ready to go since the jump,” Stewart emphasized.

Her assessment served as a sharp critique of the team's operational readiness from day one.

AN UNEVEN REGULAR SEASON

DeMarco took over the Liberty bench in December 2025.

Before taking the New York job, he spent fourteen seasons as an assistant coach with the Golden State Warriors.

During his extended tenure in the Bay Area, DeMarco helped Golden State capture four NBA championships.

However, he arrived in New York with zero previous coaching experience in the WNBA.

That transition showed almost immediately during the regular season grind.

New York finished the regular schedule with a modest 26-18 record.

That mark dropped the reigning contenders all the way to the eighth seed entering postseason play.

Roster instability played a legitimate role in New York's rocky regular season form.

Injuries repeatedly disrupted DeMarco's ability to settle on regular lineup rotations.

Forward Satou Sabally suffered a concussion that derailed a significant portion of her campaign.

Sabally was limited to just thirteen appearances throughout the 2026 season.

Ionescu also missed several games during the year, further fracturing team chemistry.

Lineup combinations changed constantly, making offensive fluidity hard to establish.

Yet, outside observers and internal voices questioned whether the coaching staff was properly equipped to handle the adversity.

PLAYOFF SPARKS AND COSTLY MISTAKES

Despite entering the playoffs as the eighth seed, the Liberty briefly showed their championship ceiling.

New York faced the top-seeded Minnesota Lynx in the opening round.

The Liberty stunned the basketball world by sweeping Minnesota out of the postseason.

In doing so, New York became the first eighth seed in league history to eliminate a number one seed.

The Liberty defense smothered Minnesota's attack throughout the short series.

New York's tactical pressure made Lynx rookie phenom Olivia Miles notably uncomfortable on the floor.

That triumph raised external expectations and gave fans hope that the team had peaked at the right time.

However, the momentum proved short-lived once the semifinals arrived.

The Atlanta Dream systematically dismantled the Liberty in a three-game semifinal sweep.

The quick exit exposed fundamental tactical problems that had lingered throughout the summer.

One glaring coaching breakdown came in the closing moments of Game Two against Atlanta.

The Liberty worked through a tight overtime period with their season essentially hanging in the balance.

During that decisive sequence, the bench failed to recognize that the team still possessed a reset timeout.

Instead of advancing the ball and drawing up a set play, the offense fell into complete confusion.

Stewart was forced to hoist a difficult, contested shot as the clock expired.

The critical late-game oversight cost New York an opportunity to extend or win the game.

Moments like that heightened internal doubts about the staff's situational mastery.

THE SHADOW OF SANDY BRONDELLO

The organizational frustration around DeMarco was intensified by the franchise's recent history.

Just one season earlier, the front office made the controversial decision to move on from Sandy Brondello.

Brondello had led the Liberty to the franchise's first-ever championship in 2024.

She stood as one of the most decorated and respected head coaches across the entire league.

When the front office initially decided not to retain Brondello, the players were stunned.

Stewart herself reacted with open shock and disbelief when reporters brought up the coaching change at the time.

Brondello quickly took over as the head coach of the Toronto Tempo.

She has since guided the Toronto franchise to strong early success.

Replacing a championship-winning leader with an NBA assistant who had no league background immediately drew skepticism.