When the defending WNBA champion New York Liberty began this season 9-0, they had the look of a team that was bound to repeat. Maybe they still will. But with the team losing three of its last four games before last night’s (Wednesday) road contest against the Golden State Valkyries, they had fallen to 10-3, two games behind the 12-1 Minnesota Lynx and just one game better in the loss than the 11-4 Phoenix Mercury and 10-4 Atlanta Dream when Tuesday’s league schedule tipped off.
The Liberty’s slippage has been directly associated with missing star Jonquel Jones. Last year’s Finals MVP is expected to be sidelined for the next four to six weeks after suffering a right ankle sprain facing the Mercury last Thursday (June 19) at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, an 89-81 Liberty loss. Going into the match up against the Mercury, the Liberty were 8-0 when the 2021 WNBA MVP and five-time All-WNBA selection started the game. Jones is averaging 12.1 points and a team-leading 9.6 rebounds. “I think you see how valuable (Jones) is to us and how we wanna play, but injuries are a part of the game,” Liberty head coach Sandy Brondello said before Sunday’s 89-79 loss to the Seattle Storm on the road.
“It’s unfortunate. (Jones is) going to work really hard, and hopefully, we can get her back earlier, but in the meantime, (reserves Nyara Sabally, Isabelle Harrison and Kennedy Burke) really just have to step up in her absence.”
Brondello added that no one on the roster can replace Jones’ skill set and that the team needs to combine to make up for what she brings to the team, doing so by committee. Brondello also said that despite Sunday’s defeat, she was pleased with the team’s effort without three starters: Jones, forward Leonie Fiebich, who is representing Germany in the Women’s EuroBasket tournament, taking place through June 29, and guard Sabrina Ionescu, who missed the game and is listed as day-to-day with a neck injury. Breanna Stewart, the 2023 WNBA MVP and the Liberty’s top scorer at 20.8 points per game, is looking at the positives and says the Liberty must adapt to their circumstances.
“This isn’t going to be the hardest thing that we face all season and we have to embrace the adversity a little bit,” she said after falling to the Mercury.
Jones likely will not be back until late July or early August, meaning by the time she hits the court again her teammates would have played around 15 games without her.
New York will complete their current four-game road trip with games against the Mercury in Phoenix on Friday and the Dream in Atlanta on Sunday.