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THE NEW YORK LIBERTY BEGIN A NEW ADVENTURE

The New York Liberty is entering into a new era.

On December 10, the team officially introduced Chris DeMarco as the tenth head coach in franchise history. DeMarco joins the franchise and WNBA after over a decade as a championship-winning assistant head coach with the Golden State Warriors on the NBA side.

This is DeMarco’s first time being a professional head coach, and it’s a challenge he’s excited for

“I'm really collaborative,” DeMarco said. “It's not just going to be my voice. Our staff is going to mirror my ideas and sometimes not, but we're going to be on the same page, and everyone on staff is going to have a speaking role. I am intense, but I'm also very clear about what it is we're trying to accomplish, and it is going to be a player-driven team.

Our first meeting isn't going to be “hey, this is what we're doing.” We're going to get with the leaders of the team, we're going to get with the entire roster, and we're going to decide how we want to do this together. And I've always found that player-driven teams have more success.”

With the coaching cycle complete, the WNBA enters 2026 with zero Black women head coaches. It’s a subject Erica L. Ayala and I discussed in depth on the latest edition of Gotta Get Up!

The Liberty is in a pretty unique situation. Assuming most of the roster, they are still WNBA championship contenders. With stars like Breanna Stewart, Jonquel Jones and Sabrina Ionescu along with the returning Betnijah Laney-Hamilton and Leonie Fiebich, the Liberty have a championship quality starting five that DeMarco can turn to.

For Jonathan Kolb and Liberty leadership, they have to figure out where they can improve the roster and solve some of their troubles from 2025. DeMarco’s player development experience should go a long way in steering the Liberty down a new, exciting path.

Even with his track record of success, this hire represents a risk. A first-time WNBA head coach tasked with leading a title contender is a hard ask. The Liberty has a lot of support in place for DeMarco to succeed, and it'll be exciting to see how he guides the Liberty into the future.

As the WNBA continues to grow, it has to create a pipeline for all coaching talent to be in the league and assume leadership positions. By doing so, they reward players that have helped get the league to this moment and allow for even more diverse coaches and coaching styles in the league.