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Jul 16, 2025; Brooklyn, New York, USA; New York Liberty players huddle during the second half against the Indiana Fever at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: John Jones-Imagn Images John Jones-Imagn Images

Why Liberty Avoided Hardship Deals in 2025

Originally posted on New York Liberty on SI
By Geoff Magliocchetti | Last updated Sep 26, 2025 9:00 AM ET

BROOKLYN — Some believed that the New York Liberty took their famous "All We Got, All We Need" mantra a little too literally this season.

The Liberty's quest for a repeat championship is over and the Sandy Brondello era was soon to follow, as New York opted not to renew the contract of the winningest head coach in franchise history. In the wake of such activity, general manager Jonathan Kolb took to the Brooklyn podium to address questions in the aftermath, all while creating a bit of a map for the Liberty's future.

"This decision comes after a thorough examination of what the New York Liberty need as we move forward into a future of an ever-evolving WNBA," Kolb said. "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."

While most queries centered on Brondello's fate, Kolb addressed questions about the 2025 season as a whole during his availability. That included one of the most persistent puzzles of the campaign, as Kolb explained why New York did not apply for hardship contracts at any point during the tour, even as they forced to play games with as little as eight women dressed thanks to mounting injuries.

"Hardships have a lot of complexity to them, in the sense of for the situation we would have been in, we would have had to attach two injuries to those [contracts]," Kolb said. "What you do is you lock in the amount of games that those players will have to miss when you're dealing with the injuries that we went through this year, especially to those of Jonquel Jones and Breanna Stewart, there's a moving timeline for when they are going to return. Obviously you would like them to return as soon as possible. within reason."

In the WNBA, a team becomes eligible for a basic hardship contract when two players are forced to miss at least three weeks of play due to injury, illness, or other issues from the time such a contract is requested. Emergency deals may be requested if a team dips below 10 available women while on standard hardships.

Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images

Both Jones and Stewart missed about a month of play due to separate ailments: Jones, the most recent WNBA Finals MVP, endured an ankle injury just before the start of the summer while Stewart was diagnosed with a bone bruise on her knee shortly after mid-July's All-Star break.

Even though the Indiana Fever, currently facing the Las Vegas Aces in the WNBA Playoffs' semifinal round, made due with a series of hardship deals after losing regulars like Caitlin Clark and Sophie Cunningham for the season, the Liberty opted to stand pat, sticking to regular deals that went to Stephanie Talbot and Emma Meesseman. The latter's entry also created some voluntary shorthandedness, as she couldn't talk the floor before her travel visa requirements were fulfilled.

"We didn't feel comfortable that, collectively, if we brought somebody in that they would [both] play and be worth potentially pushing back the return dates of [Jones and Stewart]," Kolb explained. "Later in the year, we did give serious consideration to applying for a hardship with the league. At that point in time, players we were interested in bringing in, that we felt could contribute, we're not interested in that. Other players sought out other opportunities with teams that they would have had a longer stay and be able to prove themselves in ways that maybe mean something more for their future in the WNBA."

"Quite honestly, at another stage, when we looked at it, players that we were interested in were already overseas. I just think that speaks more to the rules of our league currently that are in place than whether a hardship player would or wouldn't have impacted our season."

In any event, Kolb stated that the decision to part ways with Brondello was not limited to the rollercoaster 2025 season: the discussion of a switch, in fact, dated back to last season but was temporarily silenced by Brondello bringing the first postseason championship to the seafoam trophy case.

Though believing a switch had to be made in the best interest of the Liberty's long-term future in an "ever-evolving" WNBA, Kolb made sure to praise the sense of resilience Brondello created as she navigated the Liberty in uncomfortable territory.

"I think it's really important that I stress and emphasized that this decision was in no way punitive, nor was it reactive, but it's instead rooted in being proactive, nor was this decision based solely on the results of this past season," Kolb said at the top of his statements. "I actually think Sandy did a good job navigating this group through uncharted waters, through injuries and a lack of availability, and we've got a great level of appreciation for Sandy Brondello, the head coach, as well as Sandy Brondello the person."

This article first appeared on New York Liberty on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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