Ian Casselberry Contributing writer Tue, November 3, 2026 at 1:08 PM UTC · 3 min read About Our Ads Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The New York Liberty have fired head coach Chris DeMarco after just one season, according to ESPN.
The move comes shortly after the Liberty lost to the Atlanta Dream in the semifinals of the WNBA playoffs.
New York lost that series in a three-game sweep . The Liberty lost the final two games of the series by a combined five points, but had no answers for Atlanta's guard duo of Rhyne Howard and Jordin Canada, in addition to Angel Reese emerging as a frontcourt star in her first postseason.
During DeMarco's lone season, New York finished with a worse record ( 26-18 ) compared to 2025 and entered the playoffs as the league's No. 8 seed despite a roster led by former MVPs Breanna Stewart and Jonquel Jones, along with four-time All-Star Sabrina Ionescu. (They could have had a fourth star in Satou Sabally, if not for a head injury that limited her to 13 games .)
The Liberty showed they were better than their regular-season record indicated with a first-round upset of the top-seeded Minnesota Lynx, becoming the first No. 8 seed in league history to defeat a No. 1 in a playoff series. Yet New York ultimately couldn't match a healthier Dream roster that pushed a faster pace of play.
DeMarco, 41, was hired after the Liberty did not renew the contract of Sandy Brondello four seasons into her tenure, and one year after New York won the WNBA championship.
Despite limping into the playoffs and suffering a first-round sweep against the Phoenix Mercury last year, Brondello was still the winningest coach in franchise history, posting two 32-8 seasons, two consecutive trips to the Finals and a league title. She also had the public support of Stewart and Ionescu.
That wasn't necessarily the case for DeMarco following the Liberty's loss to the Dream . When asked if the coach should return, both Jones and Ionescu said that wasn't their decision. Stewart echoed those sentiments, but then hinted at possible flaws in DeMarco's approach.
"I don't think we were consistent," Stewart said after being eliminated . "This is not cramming for a test. You gotta be ready to go and ready to go from the jump."
DeMarco also came under fire for the way the Liberty lost Game 2 of the semifinal series, failing to use a reset timeout in the waning seconds of overtime .
After parting with Brondello, Liberty general manager Jonathan Kolb reportedly sought a coach with NBA experience , such as Las Vegas Aces coach Becky Hammon and Nate Tibbetts of the Phoenix Mercury. DeMarco was an assistant for 14 years with the Golden State Warriors and also brought international experience as the coach for the Bahamas men's national team.
However, DeMarco had no WNBA coaching experience. Kolb might prefer to make sure that's on the resume of the Liberty's next coach when looking at those who have been successful most recently.
Source: Sports
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