Chris DeMarco will not be retained as head coach of the New York Liberty after one year at the helm, sources told ESPN on Tuesday.
After New York was eliminated from the playoffs in the semifinals, DeMarco said without hesitation that he expected to return in 2027. But New York’s three stars — Breanna Stewart, Sabrina Ionescu and Jonquel Jones — did not offer a definitive vote of confidence in him when asked whether it was their hope and expectation that he would be back.
Stewart said after the loss that she “1,000%” believed the team had the personnel to win a championship and that “what I’m thinking about right now is just the missed opportunity.”
The Liberty will be looking for their third coach in three years and fourth head coach hire under general manager Jonathan Kolb; they moved on from Sandy Brondello in September 2025 following a first-round playoff exit, one year removed from their franchise-first WNBA title.
“I don’t think we were consistent throughout the season,” Stewart said when asked about DeMarco. “I think that we started to show some life and peak a little bit in towards the end and in the playoffs. But this is not like cramming for a test. You got to be ready and ready to go since the jump.”
New York — a team with internal and external championship expectations — had a rocky first year under DeMarco, who came to Brooklyn after spending over a decade on staff with the Golden State Warriors and as the head coach of the Bahamas men’s national team since 2019.
“We need to nail this,” Kolb told reporters last year about the next hire following Brondello. “If we’re going to make a bold decision like this, our players deserve to get the best.”
The Liberty started 13-12 before winning the Commissioner’s Cup championship and finishing the regular season at 26-18 — good enough to secure the No. 8 and final seed in the playoffs.
Player availability worked against them at times, as Ionescu and guard Leonie Fiebich missed significant time and Satou Sabally was limited to just 13 games before being ruled out for the season. Betnijah Laney-Hamilton also fell out of the rotation and was waived four days after the trade deadline.
New York swept the No. 1 seed Minnesota Lynx in the best-of-three first-round series before getting swept 3-0 itself by the No. 4 seed Atlanta Dream in the semifinals.
DeMarco dealt with the learning curve that comes with being a first-time coach in the WNBA, and his inexperience was on display in the postseason. During the controversial end to Game 2 of their semifinal series, DeMarco failed to use the Liberty’s final reset timeout at the end of overtime or attempt to stop the game to clarify whether the team had one.
DeMarco’s job is the second current head coach opening this WNBA offseason; the Los Angeles Sparks are also looking for a new coach after moving on from Lynne Roberts.
The Liberty realistically have at least two years remaining in their championship window, with Stewart, Jones and Ionescu all under contract through 2028.
