For a few precious moments, New York Liberty head coach Sandy Brondello forwent the traditional sea foam tones and swapped them for red velvet.
It’s one of Brondello’s favorite desserts, and she was presented with it in cupcake form as the Liberty prepared for Tuesday night’s game against the Dallas Wings. Brondello celebrated her 56th birthday on Tuesday, marking the Liberty’s return to Barclays Center after the WNBA’s long Olympic hiatus that brought plenty of success to New York’s record.
Before Tuesday’s game, Brondello had the opportunity to reflect on an eventful year that had brought us towering victories, heartbreaking losses, opportunities for resilience and reflection, and everything in between.
“I learn something new every year, and I think that’s the beauty of it,” said a thoughtful Brondello. “Life is a journey. There will be ups and downs. It’s an opportunity for growth. It doesn’t matter how old or young you are, you know, I’ve learned a lot this year.”
After returning from the Olympic break, Brondello is back in Brooklyn, trying to rebound from a heartbreaking loss in last season’s WNBA Finals. So far, New York has rebounded well enough to post the league’s best record (24-4) and a six-game active winning streak, the longest active record in history.
Brondello recently got a taste of redemption in Paris, when she led the Australian women’s national basketball team to a bronze medal at the Olympics. Getting the Opals back on the podium was one of Brondello’s preseason goals after the team failed to advance past the group stage at the Tokyo Games three years earlier. Adversity at the WNBA level has come in the form of several medical absences: Tuesday’s game alone saw Sabrina Ionescu (neck) and Betnijah Laney-Hamilton (knee) sit out, while Leonie Febich (rib) left the game after 12 minutes.
But New York gave Brondello a wonderful birthday present: In addition to the 94-74 victory, New York’s seventh in a row, three New Yorkers (Jonquel Jones, Breanna Stewart, Courtney Vandersloot) scored double-doubles in a game for the second time in franchise history and the 24th time in WNBA history overall.
“Obviously, the year was marked by a lot of adversity, like losing (at the Olympics and the WNBA Finals), to coming back this season and dealing with that and injuries and everything that came with that, and also being away from my family, that’s something I have to deal with as well,” Brondello said. “That’s always tough, but I feel like I come out of it with tears in my eyes as well, but it’s a matter of wisdom.”
“I just feel like I’ve become a better coach, I’ve become an even better person,” Brondello continued. “I’m not always going to be perfect, so I’ve learned to always be learning. I think I’m a quick learner in that regard. I can hold myself accountable when I mess up, and that’s part of the journey we’re all on. If we can all stay true to that, we’re in pretty good shape, right?”
The Liberty are in pretty good shape, and even better with the final quarter of the WNBA regular season upon us: Heading into Wednesday’s games, New York is the only team to have clinched a playoff spot, holding a 3.5-game lead over Connecticut at the top of the standings.
Continuing to play hard despite the early clinch was an obvious tenet for the active Liberty players, but the celebrations led those who took the floor Tuesday to a must-win scenario. Vandersloot said the team “had to come out and play hard” to celebrate the holiday, while Stewart was relieved the team didn’t have to wait 364 days for another attempt at throwing a Brondello birthday party.
In their triumph, both big city veterans and newcomers praised the influence Brondello had on them.
“I think what makes Sandy special is first of all she’s a human being,” Stewart said. “She knows where a lot of us have been because she’s a former player herself. She knows the emotions on the court and off the court and knows how to keep a team together. It’s not easy when you have so many great players on a team. I know she probably gets the brunt of a lot of negativity at times, but she continues to motivate us and keep us going.”
“She’s just a great person,” said freshman Kennedy Burke of Brooklyn, who scored 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting Tuesday. “She’s honest with me. There was a time when I was in a slump and she wanted to talk to me. Since then, just having that conversation with her has helped me a lot because she said she believed in me and that flipped a switch for me and said, oh, I can do this because she believes in me.”
With another year under his belt, Brondello returns to action with the Liberty on Thursday when they play a rematch against the Wings at Barclays Center (7 p.m. ET, WWOR).
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