When the New York Liberty signed three-time WNBA All-Star forward Satou Sabally in April, move shaped arguably what many pundits considered the league’s most talented roster and one of the favorites, along with the reigning champion Las Vegas Aces, to win this season’s title.
Three months later, the Liberty are the No. 6 overall seed in the standings at 22-15 heading into Saturday’s (7:00 p.m.) game at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn versus the No. 3 seed Indiana Fever (24-12), and Sabally has temporarily left the team due to a head injury.
The 28-year-old, 6-4 Sabally, who was born in New York City to a Gambian father and German mother and raised in Germany, has played in just 13 games this season after averaging 16.3 points and 5.9 rebounds in 39 games for the Phoenix Mercury last season.
Sabally sustained a head injury on June 23 after being elbowed in the face by Aces forward NaLyssa Smith. She has been out of the lineup since the incident, and there is no timetable for her return.
Last Thursday, Liberty head coach Chris DeMarco informed the media of Sabally’s status. On August 12, her designation on the injury report was changed from “concussion protocol” to “head.”
“She’s gonna be away from the game for a little bit. It’s her second significant head injury in the past 12 months,” said DeMarco. “As with all our players, health will always be the focus.
Sabally was averaging 10.4 points on 45.9% shooting with a solid 38.5 percentage on 3-point attempts.
On Tuesday, the Liberty suffered two losses: the game and a player. Forward-center Jonquel Jones, the 2024 WNBA Finals MVP, left the game in the first quarter of a 93-86 road loss to the Chicago Sky with a left ankle injury. The Sky came into the game nine games under .500 at 13-22. Once Liberty fan favorite Natasha Cloud scorched her former team for a career-high 35 points.
“It’s tough; obviously we hope (Jones) will be back quickly, but honestly, I think (backup center) Han (Xu) stepped up to the challenge pretty well,” Liberty forward Breanna Stewart said after the loss.
“(Sky starting center Kamilla) Cardoso is a tough guard, and she continued to provide length on her. But as a team… we have been through this far too many times, and our response needs to be better. When one person goes down, we need to just be even better, and the next one up mentality.”
“We believe in our bench,” said DeMarco when asked about the possibility of a long Jones absence. “We play this style so that anybody who comes in can contribute…”
Stewart became the fastest player in WNBA history to reach 3,000 points for a single team in the loss. The three-time WNBA champion is also 10th on the league’s all-time scoring list.
New York has three more games before the 17-day league-wide break for the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup, which will be held in Berlin, Germany, from September 4-13. Stewart is the lone Liberty on the U.S. roster.
