Sandy Brondello will return to Barclays Center on Wednesday for the first time this season with her new team and a new logo emblazoned on her quarter-zip. She’ll give a pregame speech in the visitors’ locker room and head to the opposing team’s bench.
It’ll be different.
But some of her former players believe she deserves a heroine’s welcome — an immediate, loud ovation booming with unmistakable gratitude.
“It’s going to be great,” Breanna Stewart predicted Monday. “It’s going to be really welcoming for her. I think that the fans obviously love [her] and will always show respect to her anytime she comes back.”
Brondello deserves applause not because nostalgia demands it or because sports fans are obligated to cheer for former coaches who’ve moved on. But because Brondello helped establish a standard of excellence that turned the Liberty from a league basement dweller into a constant contender.
Brondello left an indelible mark on the franchise. She’s the first and only coach who guided the Liberty to a WNBA championship. She arrived in New York in 2022, inheriting a team that won 14 games combined over the two previous seasons and was in search of consistency and identity.
The front office formed a superteam one year later, with the arrivals of Stewart and Jonquel Jones. Under Brondello’s leadership, New York went to back-to-back WNBA Finals for the first time since President Bill Clinton was in office.
On the franchise’s sixth trip to the Finals in 2024, the Liberty finally broke through.
The Liberty, with Brondello’s help, became exactly what they had hoped for — a trendsetter and league leader in more ways than one. Winning became an expectation rather than an aspiration.
Yet, some felt that Brondello never fully maximized the talent on the roster.
Brondello didn’t get the perfect storybook ending in New York. Last year was a letdown for everyone, herself included. Bogged down by injuries, the Liberty underperformed and were bounced in the first round.
In the immediate aftermath, players were asked what they’d say to people who questioned whether Brondello should get another crack. Stewart was one of her staunchest supporters.
Brondello went 123-64 during her four-year tenure in New York. The Liberty fired her anyway.
“I wasn’t like particularly expecting it,” Stewart said. “I wasn’t really involved in that. And I’m sad to see her go, but happy to see her find somewhere [else].”
Brondello quickly landed a new job with the Toronto Tempo while the Liberty searched for her replacement. On a November episode of Sue Bird’s “Bird’s Eye View” podcast, Brondello pointed to a lack of “alignment” with the team’s front office as a reason for the divorce.
Sometimes the hardest breakups yield the best long-term outcomes. It’s too early to say, though, whether this one will do that.
Brondello’s Tempo team and the Liberty, now under the guidance of former longtime Warriors assistant Chris DeMarco, each hold 5-4 records heading into Wednesday’s Commissioner’s Cup clash.
Brondello earned her spot in Liberty lore. When she returns to Barclays Center, Stewart believes fans should make sure she knows it.
“Knowing that she was a part of the group that brought this franchise’s first championship, that’s something where she’ll always be etched in the books here in New York and in Brooklyn specifically,” Stewart said. “I just hope she gets a warm welcome, and it’ll be good to see her.”
Stewart is far from the only one looking forward to seeing Brondello and the other former Liberty members linking the two franchises.
Nyara Sabally, whom Toronto picked in the expansion draft, Isabelle Harrison, who signed with the Tempo in free agency, and former assistant coaches Olaf Lange and Brian Lankton, who followed Brondello up north, will also be back in their old stomping grounds.
“It’s gonna be amazing to reunite with them and have them here,” Jones said. “And I’m sure they’ll be celebrated as they should. So yeah, I’m excited to play against them but also see them.”
“Everyone is happy to see them,” Marine Johannès said. “Sandy did something big with the organization, bringing a championship.”
“They’re gonna be really loud, probably happy to see them again,” Leonie Fiebich said. “I’m really happy to see them.”
