Coaching Change After a Turbulent First Year
The New York Liberty will not retain head coach Chris DeMarco, ESPN’s Alexa Philippou reported on Tuesday, November 3, 2026. DeMarco, who was hired ahead of the season following a long tenure as an assistant with the Golden State Warriors, becomes the second consecutive Liberty head coach to be dismissed after a single year, following Sandy Brondello’s departure the previous offseason.
Under DeMarco’s leadership, the Liberty finished the regular season with a 26-18 record. Entering the postseason as the No. 8 seed, the team pulled off a historic first-round upset by sweeping the top-seeded Minnesota Lynx, becoming the first eighth-seeded team in WNBA history to eliminate a top seed. However, that momentum halted in the semifinals, where New York was swept by the Atlanta Dream, ending their championship aspirations.
Roster Disruption and Injury Struggles
The campaign was heavily affected by roster instability and persistent injuries to key contributors. Offseason acquisition Satou Sabally appeared in just 13 games due to health setbacks, while Sabrina Ionescu and Leonie Fiebich missed significant stretches. Due to these overlapping absences, the Liberty’s primary five-player lineup logged a mere 157 minutes together on the floor during the regular season, representing the lowest total among all playoff teams.
Despite the injuries, the team featured strong individual performances, notably from Breanna Stewart, who finished fifth in WMVP voting while leading the squad in scoring, steals, and blocks. Yet inconsistency plagued the roster from the opening weeks, when the team opened 13-12 and struggled to establish reliable rhythm under an inexperienced head-coaching staff.
Front Office Next Steps and Leadership Search
The postseason elimination was compounded by late-game tactical execution struggles, including a controversial failure to call a necessary timeout in the closing moments of Game 3 against the Atlanta Dream. When questioned by reporters following the elimination, veteran stars including Stewart, Jonquel Jones, and Ionescu declined to explicitly endorse DeMarco’s return, highlighting a disconnect within the franchise.
With DeMarco’s departure, SB Nation reported that general manager Jonathan Kolb is set to launch the organization’s second consecutive offseason coaching search. As core players approach pivotal career stages, the franchise faces mounting pressure to secure a veteran leader capable of steering a championship-caliber roster.