The “ever-evolving future of the WNBA” and the New York Liberty’s desire to move with it is what ultimately prompted the team to part ways with head coach Sandy Brondello, general manager Jonathan Kolb said Thursday.
“Very serious thought and consideration was made to retaining Sandy, but ultimately we determined that evolution and innovation is what is needed at this time,” the sixth-year general manager said in an exit interview.
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The Liberty announced earlier this week that they declined to renew Brondello’s contract a year after she won the franchise its first WNBA championship. The Liberty reached back-to-back Finals in her four-year tenure and reached the playoffs every season. Those four berths are tied with Richie Adubato for most consecutive by a Liberty head coach (1999-2002).
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They were favored to repeat at the start of the season until injuries sank their title defense. Kolb praised the job Brondello did this season while juggling absences from top contributors Breanna Stewart, Jonquel Jones and Sabrina Ionescu, as well as several other players.
None of that, good or bad, was part of the consideration to head in a new direction.
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“You’re somewhat playing with fire if you make decisions based on the past,” Kolb said. “I think our organization has always taken pride in being innovative and looking forward and being future-oriented and process-based.”
Kolb said the Liberty will also not bring back assistant coach Olaf Lange, Brondello’s husband. The front office has not made a decision on the rest of the coaching staff, which consists of Sania Raman and Zach O’Brien. Only three head coaches league-wide have been in their positions at least two seasons, after Seattle fired Noelle Quinn over the weekend.
Kolb declined to give qualities they are looking for in a coach, saying it could be unfairly clipped on social media as to “inadvertently imply something Sandy is lacking.” As of right now, the team is not using a search firm, and there is no timeline.
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“We need to nail this,” Kolb said. “If we’re going to make a bold decision like this, our players deserve to get the best, and so we’ll take the time necessary.”
Players including Stewart and guard Natasha Cloud spoke in defense of Brondello after the Game 3 loss to Phoenix last week. Kolb said while he is always open to feedback, and the front office went through thorough exit interviews with players, “ultimately the decision is mine.”
“I do believe we pride ourselves in being a player-led organization,” Kolb said. “But at the same time, I’m also proud of the respect that we built from the front office to the players, in the sense that there’s a level of trust that leadership will make decisions.”
Kolb believes the style on both sides of the ball is different than even two years ago when the Liberty and Aces ran the roost as “superteams.” He started to see the league change last season, but felt that coming into 2025, it was more important to lean into continuity as the catalyst. They were set to return all five playoff starters, but Betnijah Laney-Hamilton injured her knee playing in Unrivaled to set off a landslide of inactives.
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“Coming out of this season and really seeing an influx of change on many teams, it made the decision timeline tangible and one that we can be actionable on,” Kolb said.
New York ranked top three in offensive rating in the three seasons since acquiring Stewart and Jones. Their defense fell off this season, but they still managed to rank top three in net rating for a third consecutive year. They were first in their championship season (10.9), a move up from second in 2023 (10.8).
The Liberty’s offensive, defensive and net rating with their 2025 starters compared to the 2024 team is “eerily similar,” but the drop in ranking is “indicative of a changing league,” Kolb said. The roster construction will also be looked at more critically and change around the trio of Stewart, Ionescu and Jones.
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“I have the utmost confidence that they want to be back with us,” Kolb said.
All are free agents in 2026, as are most veterans. Under the current collective bargaining negotiation salary structure, the Liberty have $166,364 on the books with a salary cap of $1.5 million. That cap will rise when the new CBA is agreed upon by the league and players union. The deadline to reach a deal or negotiation extension is Oct. 31, or there could be a work stoppage.
As for replacing a head coach who leaves as the most accomplished in Liberty history — and one of the most in league history — Kolb isn’t stressed.
“In terms of pressure, I think that’s based off of past results,” Kolb said. “And that’s just not how we operate and we never have, so it wouldn’t be consistent to our mission that we’ve started for a long time now if we base decisions off of that.”
