New York Liberty Could be Poised for Championship Run
The New York Liberty are quickly catching on as a team to watch in 2024.
PHOENIX, ARIZONA – JUNE 18: Sabrina Ionescu #20 of the New York Liberty handles the ball during the WNBA game at Footprint Center on June 18, 2024 in Phoenix, Arizona. The Mercury defeated the Liberty 99-93. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement.
(Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)If there is one thing New York sports fans love it's a winner. And right now while almost everyone is focused (understandably so) on the baseball season, and NFL training camps opening up within the next week, there is a team that is excelling this summer that people are starting to pay attention to: the New York Liberty.
Most of the attention on the WNBA has been focused on the star power of Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark, who entered the league this summer after a record-breaking career at Iowa.
According to VOX, WNBA games average about 1.4 million viewers per game this year with a lot of that attributed to the presence of Clark.
A story back in May by Front Office Sports shows that the highest-rated games for the WNBA this year all involved Clark and the Fever.
So it comes as little surprise that the Liberty has snuck up on some people -- although that is changing. The Liberty are 21-4 -- the best record in the WNBA. They have two of the league's Top-10 scorers on the roster in Sabrina Ionescu and Brianna Stewart, averaging 19.4 and 19.3 points per game, respectively. And, they are second in the League in defensive rebounding (28.2 per game).
On Tuesday night the Liberty pulled away from their closest competition, the Connecticut Sun, 82-74, with Ionescu leading the way with 30 points. Her three-pointer to open the fourth quarter gave New York the jolt it needed to start pulling away late.
LARGE CROWDS NOW
As I mentioned, people are now starting to take notice. On July 11, the Liberty set an attendance record of 17,758, their largest crowd for a single game ever.
Tuesday's attendance wasn't shabby either with over 13,000 seated for the mid-week contest between the WNBA's two best teams.
On the season the Liberty are averaging 12,755 fans per game in attendance. Only the Indiana Fever are higher with 16,898 people in attendance per game, according to Across the Timeline.
Olympic Momentum??
For better or worse, the league is taking a full month break for the Olympic games, and won't return to action until August 15. The Liberty will be on the road that night against the Los Angeles Sparks. Whether the long layoff helps or hurts this team remains to be seen, but one thing is certain, as football begins and baseball's pennate races start to heat up in late August, the Liberty will be deserving of attention.
A year ago the Liberty were 32-8 (their best season to date), but lost to the Las Vegas Aces in the WNBA Finals. The Liberty have never won a WNBA title; 0-5 lifetime. One could argue the 2024 version of the Liberty might be its best ever. Now they need a Championship title.
