New Liberty forward Satou Sabally is questionable for Saturday’s preseason opener against the Fever.
Coach Chris DeMarco checked with the Liberty’s performance staff regarding Sabally’s availability after Friday’s practice and was given the status update. The official reason for the “questionable” status is “reconditioning.”
Sabally said earlier in the week she was a “full go” in practice, but the team was “monitoring everything and easing myself back in.”
DeMarco echoed that sentiment Friday.
“I wouldn’t say she’s not at 100 percent,” he said. “We just have to be cautious as we move toward this thing. We know we have two preseason games, we know we have that long road trip in Portland and we have some time, so we just want to make sure everybody feels good.”
Sabally suffered a concussion in Game 3 of the WNBA Finals. She sat out the 2025 Unrivaled season as she dealt with lingering concussion symptoms and wasn’t cleared to return to basketball activities until March.
She’s returned to playing five-on-five and has been active in practice, though she’s still ramping up her conditioning.
“She looks good,” DeMarco said. “Obviously, we’re doing everything for October, and we want to be smart and we’re doing that with all of our players. So we’ll see how it looks tomorrow, if she’s going to play. But she’s been fantastic. She can handle the ball, she’s good (at) setting screens and driving. She’s a good teammate, good team defender so we’ve been really impressed so far.”
Saturday will be Liberty fans’ first look at their remodeled team. The mainstays — Sabrina Ionescu, Breanna Stewart, and Jonquel Jones — remain in place, but there are several new faces in the building, including Rebecca Allen and Marine Fauthoux, who will miss the game (reconditioning).
DeMarco has started the process of integrating an entirely new offense and defense. While he said he has seen improvements each day of camp, DeMarco is tempering expectations for how Saturday might go.
“We’re going to screw up so many things,” he said. “We’ve only been here four or five days, and new players, new teammates for the ones who’ve been here — it’s a lot. And it’s going to be a lot for Indiana as well. So I just want to see us playing hard and trying to do the right things, and we’ll live with all those mistakes.”
The Liberty on Friday unveiled their Nike WNBA “Court Origins” Edition uniforms, which gave a nod to the franchise’s original 1997 look.
The iconic jerseys — in honor of the league’s 30th season — were a hit among players and fans alike.
“They’re amazing,” Betnijah Laney-Hamilton said. “I love that we’re going back to those colors for some games and then have you guys seen the court? … You’re in for a treat, I’ll say that.”
The Liberty will unveil the retro court at a later date and will debut their throwback uniforms for their season opener May 8 at Barclays Center. They plan to wear them during select games throughout the year.
