NYC NOW - The New York Liberty Were Always Cool. Now They’re One of the Hottest Tickets in Town

Episode Date: September 23, 2026

As the New York Liberty head into the WNBA playoffs for a sixth straight year, the franchise is also marking its 30th season. WNYC's Morning Edition producer Amanda Rozon takes us to Liberty Legends Weekend in Brooklyn, where original team members like Teresa Weatherspoon and Crystal Robinson reflect on the franchise's early years, as rising ticket prices are reshaping who gets to be in the stands. Then, sports reporter Priya Desai breaks down the Liberty's up and down season under a new coaching staff and what it'll take for the team to make another title run.Photo: Peter Fisher for The Washington Post via Getty ImagesGot any questions, comments or story ideas? Send us a message at [e-mail] DoorDash to pay $131.5 million to delivery workers, admitting it ‘screwed up’NYC Marathon changes route for first time in 15 yearsNY, NJ sue Trump admin over deals to scrap offshore wind projects Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

From WNYC, this is NYC Now. I'm NYC Now producer, Iru Ekpanovi, in for Jenaipier. Some fans are feeling priced out. Some fans are feeling like they've helped build the team, and now their season ticket prices are going up. The New York Liberty are headed back to the WNBA playoffs. But for some diehard fans, cheering them on is getting a lot more expensive. On today's show, we look back at three decades of Liberty.

basketball, from the team's earliest fans to today's sold-out arenas. But first, here's what's going on in the city. Thousands of DoorDash delivery workers are set to get thousands of dollars as part of a 131.5 million dollar settlement the City of New York made with the app after it was found violating local wage laws. This marks the largest labor enforcement action in New York City history. At a press conference at City Hall, Mayor Mamdani said that $115 million of the settlement would go straight to roughly 260,000 workers who were either paid less than what they

were owed or paid late. In part of a statement posted to DoorDash's website, the company said, simply put, we screwed up. As part of the settlement, the city will create a specialized app where workers can directly report potential wage violations. Nordash will also have to turn over pay data to the city every month for the next three years. New York and New Jersey are challenging the Trump administration over its deals to halt wind power projects off the Northeast coastline. They're among eight Democrat-led states to file a pair of lawsuits.

The lawsuit claims that the Trump administration acted unlawfully when it agreed to pay more than a billion dollars to a pair of energy companies this year. In exchange, Blue Point Wind and Invenergy agreed to drop their planned wind farms and pursue oil and gas projects instead. New York Attorney General Letitia James' office is leading the suits. She says she wants to see the deal struck down. The U.S. Interior Department has called the wind farm projects unreliable and unaffordable. The New York City Marathon is changing its route this year, for the first time in 15 years. That's according to the New York Roadrunners who organize the race. The changes affect a small section of the run

that cuts through the Mott Haven neighborhood in the Bronx. After runners cross the Willis Avenue Bridge, they'll swing a few blocks further north before doubling back to the Madison Avenue Bridge to head into Manhattan. A New York Roadrunner's spokesperson said that the new route would help improve access to local businesses in the area. This year's marathon is November 1st.

You can read more about these stories on our new site, gotamist.com. And now, Janay speaks with Morning Edition producer Amanda Roseon about the New York Liberty's 30-year history and their road back to the playoffs. The WNBA playoffs kick off this weekend, giving the New York Liberty another chance to win the title. And that'll definitely put a cherry on top of a historic 30th season

for the team and for the league. The Libs were one of the first founding franchises of the WNBA, from the first game in 1997 to the league. the Liberty's long-awaited championship in 2024, the team's history mirrors the evolution of women's basketball and how New Yorkers show up for it. On today's episode, we explore the Liberty's journey over three long decades through the players who built the franchise, the loyal fans, and the organization's leaders who have transformed Liberty Games into one of New York City's hottest sporting tickets. WMYC's morning edition producer Amanda Roseanne recently attended

Liberty Legends Weekend. That's kind of like a fan zone hosted by the team, and it highlights players, the historic moments that have all shaped this franchise. Amanda, welcome to the show. Hey, Janae. Liberty Legends Weekend sounds like a vibe. How was it? It was awesome. It felt like all of Brooklyn was there pretty much. It was at Brooklyn Bridge Park from Pier 1 to Pier 6. And what they did was they dribbled basketball, they meaning all the fans. And they dribbled from Pier 6. to peer two. And I mean, you could just imagine the sound. It was slightly maddening, but also very cool. Yeah. And there were so many Liberty legends there. And so many fans, I talked to a lot of people. And it was just like a walking back in history, you know, talking to some of the OG fans in particular.

I'm on the Liberty's newsletter list. I saw all of the marketing for this. But it was so early. I could not do it. And it was hot A.F. Like, it was so sunny. It was like 95 degrees. It probably was one of the hottest points in the summer. And again, there's not a ton of tree coverage along the piers. So we were all boiling and red in the face. But it was great. It was fun. Sounds like a fantastic time. I know I had this appetite for basketball, right? I didn't grow up here in New York City, obviously. But I wonder, like, did New Yorkers have an appetite for women's basketball back then? I think New York is a very big basketball town. So the answer is yes. I came across this really cool, like WNBA data. Explorer website called Across the Timeline.

And you can go back from as early as 1997 when the league started and look at what attendance was like. And the 1997 season, the first ever season when they were still playing at Madison Square Garden, there were averaging around like 13,000 fans for an arena that fits, I think, 19,000. But people really showed out. And they far outperformed like the seven other teams that were. playing in that inaugural season, except for the Houston Comets, which I think has been like a thorn on the side of early Liberty.

Yeah, for sure. I was also, I was a WMBA fan, so the love definitely spread around. Amanda, we know and we have both experienced this energy around this team, but that's as of late, right, recently. Early on, what did it mean to be a Liberty fan in those early years? Okay, so Liberty fans, like most New York fans for their New York teams, they are diehard and they're so committed to this team. I spoke to fans that have been season ticket holders since year one. Here's Millie Fulford. She's going to be 70 in January, but she's been a fan since 97, and she was there with her granddaughter.

I introduced her to the Liberty when she was three years old. So we shared that championship. As you can hear, she's so proud of being able to share this moment with her teen granddaughter, and it was a full circle moment. We just sobbed. We just started crying, and we just couldn't believe that it was really happening for us. Because, you know, we have waited so long. Liberty fans were very much like Nix fans.

Like, they had to wait a long time. I mean, for the Liberty is their first championship for the NICS. It was their second. Yeah, but in over 50 years. Over 50 years. But it was just a full circle moment, and Millie talks about, how actually she felt like there were teams along the way that could have made it there, but for some reason they just didn't.

There were a lot of really good players between the inaugural season in 2024. And so she was just so happy to share that moment with her teen granddaughter and just being so proud of the moment. Yeah. Wow. What a beautiful moment. And honestly, I am happy that the New York Liberty got that championship in 2024 because, you know, to Millie's point, I think that team really deserved it.

Got to talk about the inaugural team, though, because I thought that college star-studied team really deserved it as well back in 97. I mean, we're talking about Teaspoon, Sue Wicks, Rebecca Lobo. Oh, my gosh. I spoke to Teresa Weatherspoon, actually, and I asked her what are some of her favorite memories from back then. And she said having to assimilate to New York culture. We came here. We were New Yorkers. We were all of us were country girls.

We were country girls. Everybody's like, country girls in New York, Sue Wicks was the only New Yorker. She said, aside from Sue Wicks, who I think is a New Yorker, she called them country girls. And she said coming up to New York was a bit of a culture shock for her. We adopted the attitude. We adopted the grit and grind. We adopted what this city is all about. It's never give up, never give in.

We win. And that's what we're about. It's kind of cliche, but New York does have these standards for their sports teams. Like, it's either you win or you're a failure. And I think she described that as really pushing all of the women on the team to really be their best and to earn the fans' respects. So cool that you got a chance to talk with Teresa Witherspoon. I feel like her name is synonymous when it comes to the New York Liberty. What makes her connection with New York and the fans here so special?

Well, I think first and foremost, she's such a chill person and she recalled the shot. The shot. The shot. Teresa Wetherspoon. She put it on. She put it in. And the Liberty win game two. What a finish.

1999, game two of the finals. 2.4 seconds left on the clock. And Houston was going to win that game for sure. The confetti was already dropping. And the fans were already cheering. And Teresa Wetherspoon makes a half-court shot with 2.4 seconds left to win the game. Aptopazer of three.

She put it in! She put it in! And the Liberty went to finish! A moment that will live on with OG and Anobi. Yes, that's so true. Liberty ended up losing the finals. But they did have that incredible Game 2 moment. You could lose this series, but the moments...

Oh, my gosh. The moments live on forever. They do live on forever. Speaking of highlights, I know that there were some other former players that you spoke to during Liverpool. Liberty Legends weekend. Who else? So I spoke to Crystal Robinson. Oh, yes. And she was also part of that original team.

And she really wanted to highlight those middle players. So not the inaugural team that, you know, the Liberty Legends, everybody talks about and not the players that we talk about today. But she said there was a group in the middle that also were pioneers and also were trailblazers. And we're kind of playing at a time where the Liberty had a very low period. There's a whole middle layer of players that we foster into the league that'll tell you what it was like playing with us and how as veterans we shape them. And to me, that's what being a professional athlete's about. You leave something behind for the next generation that leaves something behind and it trickles down. And it really got me interested to learn more about those middle years that are a little less talked about.

Yeah. You recently reported a story looking at ticket prices for Liberty Games. We know that it was super cheap to go to these games back in the day, right? You even talked about how the team was having issues filling the seats. But that's not the problem anymore. It's a lot more costly to attend games these days. What did you find out? So I found that fans have really mixed emotions about ticket prices.

And of course, the caveat is that all sporting events, the ticket prices are going up. We remember the Knicks in the finals. Those tickets were going for like thousands of. dollars for not very good seats, you know, it was in the nosebleeds and forget about court side, you know, it was crazy. Our own mayor was in a nosebleeds. Yeah. He was like, I'm paying that money to.

I'm not taking any handouts. So some fans are feeling priced out. Some fans are feeling like they've helped build the team. They showed up when nobody was showing up. And now their, you know, season ticket prices are going up. It jumped 100% from the year that they won the championship in 2024 to 2025. and then again this year. But then there are some fans, like Millie, who I mentioned earlier,

she still has her season ticket. She did have to move back a few rows, but she's still there. Who knows what next year is going to look like. But I'm sure those diehards are still going to be there. Absolutely. Fans, I think they are as dedicated as ever, especially after that first championship, as we've been saying.

I heard from a lot of people that saying they're having a lot easier time to get their friends to come with them to Liberty Games. So they love all of that. They love that there are more men and boys who are fans of the Liberty, like genuinely there to support the women on the court. That being said, they're a little bit worried that the culture in the arena is changing, maybe not as of a space for queer people as it used to be. And a little bit more like, what's it called, barking at the players, as they say, you know, calling them out if they do something wrong. online, a lot of hate comments more than there used to be. And of course, that just has to do with also the rise of social media.

I'm sure they were haters back in the day for sure. But they're a little bit worried that the culture is changing in that way and that it's not as much of this like homey, wholesome family environment that it used to. But I think a lot of fans have the opposite experience. They are kind of like, no, this is great. This is, you know, I feel so at home here. This is awesome. Yeah. Once the next time you're going to hit the stands and see me at the.

Liberty game? I've never been to a Liberty playoff game. So hopefully in the playoffs. Save your coins, girl. I know. I know. Or I'll sit way up there. I know the seats get kind of narrow up there, but I'll, that's fine. But I will say there's also a lot more women's sports bars opening up, especially in Brooklyn and around the arena. And, you know, from like large screen TVs to projections. So if you don't make it to a game, I think gathering. at one of these new women's sports bars is really good. Ginger's, Wilkes. Shout out to Athena Kikis. That's my favorite.

Yeah. That's WMYC's morning edition producer Amanda Roseon. Amanda, thanks so much for joining me. Thank you. Let's go Liberty. Let's go Liberty. It's the postseason for the WMBA. After the break, we talk with sports reporter Priya Desai about the New York Liberty season

and what they'll have to do to be champs again. Stay with us. The New York Liberty are entering the WNBA playoffs for the sixth consecutive year. And it's been a somewhat up and down season for the Libs. They're playing under a new coaching staff and have been hobbled by injuries. Joining me to talk about the Liberty's season and their postseason chances is sports reporter Priya Desai. Welcome to the show. Hello.

How you doing? Not bad. Ready for some playoff basketball. You know, from the beginning of this basketball season, season, to me at least, it looked like the libs were like having an identity crisis. And I wonder what you think about the season that they've had so far. Yeah, I think that's really fair to say. You would see like an eight game winning streak and then they'd have these long stretches

where that consistency completely disappeared. But there's reasons behind that, right? The context is new coach, new system and injuries that made it really difficult to establish that continuity that you need for those, like, long. win stretches and can they depend on themselves when the shots aren't falling? Like can they figure out how to defend, how to rebound, how to settle themselves down? And I think often throughout the season, the answer is absolutely no. And you're not going to play your best basketball every single night, but you need something

that carries you through your worst stretches. Yeah. But we can't keep happening these late game performances where they got it by the, you know, the skin of their teeth. Yeah. Yeah. You mentioned two things that I want to point out. Coaching injuries, and we'll get to both of them.

But let's start with coach Chris DeMarco. This is his first season. And I've heard many fans say that it's not a great fit. What are your thoughts on that? Well, first of all, New York, there's always high expectations. Facts. Number one, you're had a championship, the first of the franchise. That's what Sandy Brando brought to the Liberty.

So the bar was incredibly. So high. Yeah, big shoes. And what I'm going to look at is DeMarco really focuses on making sure everyone touches the ball. And can he now make the adjustments he needs to in the postseason? That's where I'm going to judge the season in its entirety. There are changes that need to be made. Can he do it in the postseason against some of these teams that really gave the liberty problems?

Yeah, I really was thinking a couple of weeks ago, how is Chris? Chris DeMarco spending this time while some of the players are in the Fibah tournament, you know? And I'm hoping he was changing around some plays and reading the emails that I sent about the defense not working. Not trying out to new restaurants in Brooklyn. Yeah, yeah. But what's missing seriously when it comes to his approach to coaching here? I think, again, like the injuries did not help. Having someone like Satu Soboli out for the season, I don't know what adjustment.

they can make to replace the shots that she was able to make in the few games that she played. Or just her presence on the court, honestly. Very much so. Yeah, very much so. Yeah. Man, it hurts.

It hurts right now. You seem very unhappy with it. Well, listen, we talked at the beginning of the season, right? I was pumped. Definitely upset that we didn't have Natasha Cloud but still pumped for Satu Saboli. And I'm sure the whole Liberty fan base was as well. And so to have the season that this team has had, like, from where I'm sitting,

I'm sorry, I'm just underwhelmed. And I think a lot of that for me was defense. Defensively, they're not able to give players like Ayanescu the time to make the shot she needs to make. She's definitely had her moments. But again, it's a brand, I mean, it's a brand new system. Yeah. Super new. Right. And I'm also, we got, the postseason, the way it ends, I think is going to be the biggest tell on whether this was a good idea or not, bringing in a brand new coach. Honestly.

Yeah. You know, the lips didn't just switch up the coaching. We saw some new players added to the roster mid-season and lost a fan favorite at, oh my gosh, I can't even say it without choking up a bit. Benajian Lainey Hamilton was dismissed. Yeah. Look, Menyja was a fan favorite. True diehard Libs fans were upset. And naturally, she was here before the championship.

She was someone who represented what the Liberty was. She's a Liberty legend. 100%. It was surprising to me that she was waived and was not picked up by another team. It was very disappointing. But you saw throughout her time with the Libs that she was getting less and less playing time. Maybe she wasn't doing well within DeMarco's system. And look, Benajia also had an injury.

that kept her out for a long time. Yeah. And that matters, especially as you get older. Yeah. What ended up happening is they gave Marine Fatu a French player. She's already on the team, but they gave her a multi-year contract. She has really good playing decision-making ability. And I think that's what they saw.

Fatu has done what they needed her to do. And that was create shots when some of the stars needed. the space to do what they do. Yeah. But yeah, it was sad. Seeing Benajaghan was really sad. And it really, I think, was a turning point for this team to go from like, okay, that was that generation. We're not moving on.

That's exactly what it feels like. Thank you for saying it because it's like, oh, man, here comes to young girls. You're such haters. I am. I don't want to be, but it's like, oh, okay, this is. I know. But all teams need to eventually make that sense. switch into players that are younger than me, which makes me feel really old.

You know, I would be the oldest player in the WMBA if I played today. I know when Diana Tarasi retired, I was like, oh, it's a wrap for people in their 40s. Give it up. We're all going to the nursing home. Okay, so let's switch gears here. even with the season that the Liberty has had, the team clinched a spot in the playoffs. What does the team have to do to be successful this postseason? I know we talked a bit about the coaching and switching up a bit, but what else has to be done?

I think the perfect way to enter the postseason is to look at their games against Golden State. Golden State gave them the most problems. Yeah. They swept the season series. They held the libs to their lowest points of the season, and they just weren't able to create those offensive and defensive combinations that could get them over that hurdle. You cannot rely on Ionescu the whole time.

I think Johnquil Jones is a good answer for getting inside and being able to create those shots. her and Ionescu together, if they can get a rhythm, that would really set them up to beat a team like Golden State. But that's what I hope DeMarco is doing in his off time. It's studying those Golden State tapes because that was brutal. And I know everyone thinks that Minnesota. It's Minnesota. That's going to give the most problems.

I watch that game. And I don't think so. I think you're absolutely right. It's the Valkyries. It's the Valkyries. That's what's going to give them the most problems. You mentioned the Valkyries as a threat. Anyone else, the whole WNBA?

That's all I'm worried about right now. Okay. No, I mean, I don't want you or listeners to think that they don't really have a chance, and this is just all terrible and a new coach was a bad idea. I don't think that. I think you'll see one big example is Marine Johannes, aka Jojo Buckets, aka the French Steph Curry. Yeah.

And she has played well in his system. I got to say also, like the lips have done well using overseas players and have having them become role players. Jojo Buckets had a game. It was against the aces, I think, where she got 27. Crazy. And then on the spot.

And then the other French Marine Fat 2. Marine Fat 2. Marine Fat 2 with 9 assists. And it's like if they can at least in the offseason take some time to work with these younger players and get them into a rhythm and into a system. Because remember, they didn't have a lot of time practicing. Yeah, because of the CBA.

Because of the CBA issue. And so I think that is something also once the season is over that they're really going to have to focus on. And one of the things that they're going to have to maybe realize what didn't work this season. But right now, I'm just rooting for a two-champions city celebration. Yes, absolutely. Yes. Let's talk about that really quick. I mean, with the Knicks winning the NBA championship this summer,

The city has expectations, right? Are we filling it? Is the Liberty feeling it? I think Liberty fans are feeling it. I think it would be a phenomenal way to cap off this year because you remember how phenomenal the energy was in the city, right? That's why I think it's going to be really exciting to watch this series. And that's why I do really hope for a deep run for the Liberty

because it would really bring that energy back that we had all summer. It's like it'll be fall energy. We had super summer energy. It's be feisty fall energy. Oh, feisty fall. I love that. Priya, before I let you go, where have you been watching the games these days? In my home. I just told you I'm old.

I'm like, it's too loud in here. Best sports reporter, Priya decide. Don't look for her at the sports bars. Thanks a lot, Priya. It's always a good time. Thank you. And thank you for listening to NYC now. I'm Jene Pierre.

See you next time.