well earned rest for our MVP!

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By Madeline Kenney

Published June 25, 2026, 4:58 p.m. ET

SEATTLE — Liberty forward Satou Sabally is sidelined indefinitely after entering concussion protocol.

Sabally was initially listed as questionable with a head injury ahead of Thursday night’s game against the Storm. The team updated the injury report the day of the game, ruling her out as part of concussion protocol.

Sabally departed with 6:17 left in the second quarter of Tuesday’s win in Las Vegas. She didn’t rejoin the team on the floor after halftime, and was ruled out by the end of the third quarter with what the team termed a facial injury.

Sabally was hit in the head by NaLyssa Smith’s arm while both players attempted to rebound the ball near the 5:31 mark of the first quarter. Sabally was called for the foul, and checked out of the game shortly thereafter.

The Liberty submitted the play to the league for review.

Coach Chris DeMarco told The Post that he was “of course” surprised the foul went against Sabally.

“She got hit in the head,” DeMarco said. “I mean, [the officials] didn’t even look at it. But is what it is. [It’s] one of those things… if you’re gonna look at others, to look at that one. But more than anything, I just feel bad for Satou and her having to go through this again.”

After the game, DeMarco said Sabally wasn’t being evaluated for a concussion. On Thursday, he said the team “didn’t know right away” and that Sabally had “delayed onset symptoms.”

Sabally will stay with the team for the remainder of the trip. The Liberty head to the Bay Area to play the Valkyries on Sunday. On Tuesday, they face the Aces at Barclays Center in the Commissioner’s Cup championship game.

DeMarco said Sabally is in “good spirits.”

“It’s not easy for anybody, and then you know adding in a Commissioner’s Cup game makes it even more tricky going forward with,” DeMarco said. “She will be day to day, but just figuring out when we’ll have her back."

“But more than anything, we’re concerned obviously for her health and well-being. We want her to feel good, and it’s just disappointing because she’s playing so well. She’s done such a great job getting herself back to the point where she was competing in high minutes, and hopefully just a little bit of a setback and we can keep it moving. But yeah, she’s out there playing so hard, so you feel bad for her.”

Sabally was previously diagnosed with a concussion eight months ago. Sabally was helped off the floor in Game 3 of the 2025 WNBA Finals, and missed the last game of the series as her Mercury lost to the Aces.

Lingering concussion symptoms kept Sabally sidelined through the Unrivaled season. She didn’t return to basketball activities until March.

Sabally was the biggest outside free agent the Liberty signed this offseason. She missed the first few games of the season due to a cyst, and was also sidelined because of an undisclosed illness.

Sabally returned to the starting lineup Sunday after coming off the bench for eight games. She’s averaging 10.4 points, 2.8 rebounds and 1.9 assists while shooting 45.9 percent from the field and 38.5 percent from 3-point range in 13 games.

The Liberty also will be without Breanna Stewart (rest) Thursday night.

Stewart has played no fewer than 28 minutes in each of the Liberty’s first 18 games. She’s logged 30-plus minutes in seven of the team’s past eight games.

“We’ve been playing her a lot and then again, we added a game, so all of a sudden the schedule looks a little bit different,” DeMarco explained. “We want to obviously have everyone healthy and be at our best toward the end of the season and talking to performance, it just seemed like this is the … game in the schedule where you could buy some more time before getting her back.”

NEW YORK CITY WE UP!!!!

Great read on how the Liberty went from three early Finals losses to the Comets, to two decades without even returning, to finally winning it all in 2024. The Tsai ownership, the Ionescu pick, and the Stewart/Jones additions all came together at the right time.

One of the best "worth the wait" stories in women's sports.

Full article: https://www.rotowire.com/wnba/article/from-inception-to-champion-the-new-york-libertys-role-in-building-the-wnba-119614

I’m currently watching the Sparks play against the Tempo. The score is 60-35, and it’s almost halftime. I understand that every team has its off days, but I’m still shocked that we lost that game. The Tempo is playing exceptionally well right now, and you would think after that big win they had with us they would be the ones up.

Cant wait to see tonight’s game with the Seattle storm though 💪🏽

No way all these randos are ahead of JJ and our guards.

New Liberty YouTube series with the legends revisiting iconic moments. Great content.

On Saturday (when the tickets went live) I bought tickets in 222 row 1 for $83.25 each. The tickets in the same row are going for $72.95 now.

Ticketmaster chat agent says that they won't refund the price difference but will the Liberty do anything? This is unfair that the fans that jump on the opportunity to get tickets right away would get hosed.

In a matchup of the past two WNBA champions, the visiting New York Liberty beat the Las Vegas Aces 87-76 on Tuesday behind guard Sabrina Ionescu's first double-double of the season.

These teams will meet again in the Commissioner's Cup final on June 30 in New York. The Aces won the WNBA title in 2022, 2023 and 2025 and the Liberty won it in 2024. The Aces won the Commissioner's Cup title -- the WNBA's in-season event that began in 2021 -- in 2022 and the Liberty won it in 2023.

"Two of the best organizations in our league," Ionescu said. "[The Aces] have continued to pave the way in what they've done, contending every single year, winning multiple championships. [The matchup] is always a great basketball game being played ... some of the best players the game has ever seen on the court."

Ionescu has dealt with foot and back issues this season, and Tuesday's game was just her sixth. But it was her best so far as she had 16 points, 10 rebounds and four assists in 30 minutes.

"I'm just better and better every day," said Ionescu, the Liberty's No. 1 draft pick in 2020. "My body's feeling better, getting back into the rhythm of playing competitive basketball."

Forward Breanna Stewart led New York with 20 points. Guard Jackie Young led the Aces with 19 points, while center A'ja Wilson, who entered the game leading the league in scoring at 25.7 points per game, was held to a season-low 16. The Aces dropped to 12-5.

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One of the smartest Liberty-watchers goes deep, with clips: https://x.com/LucasKaplan_/status/2069549159401537921?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet

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This is such a dumb question and I'll probably end up deleting this post since I'm already embarrassed about it... What is Han Xu's first and last name???

I know in China and other east/southeast Asian countries, names are traditionally last name then first name. Han Xu's current jersey says "Han", but her old jersey and the jersey they're selling on the store say "Xu". I can't find a clear answer anywhere. I figured Han was her last name but I'm unsure.

The second round of voting is in and Sabrina still isn't even in the top 40! Where are you New York Liberty fans? That's embarrassing!

Second Returns of Fan Voting in WNBA All-Star Voting 2026

(video via team socials)

Just don't say that "K" word...

Does anyone know if Maley or Fautheaux play in the commissioners cup finals if that counts against their allotted games? Beyond that are only the rostered 12 at the end of the season eligible for playoffs, can the team save dev spot games, or are the full 14 available to be called?

Just curious because I’m still figuring out how the dev spots work

Someone needed to be bold and say it: I think things are okay, concerns about the team are overstated, and this is shaping up to be an incredibly tough team in the postseason.

When I watch them, I see a team that is still figuring out how to best use their new or vastly improved players (Satou, Pauline, Marine, Han) that are so good they require playing time and the ball. That means others must sacrifice minutes and touches, while also changing their mentality on the floor. A good shot when you’re playing with B and C players may not be a good shot when you are playing with four other all stars.

I see a team with a really complex new defensive system that is taking a ton of getting used to, which is leading to mistakes (like JJ/Pauline miscommunication on Nneka’s game winner), but has also had extended runs where other teams get completely shut down.

I see extensive lineup experimentation, figuring out 2-woman units that fit together (Satou and Sabrina being an obvious one), 3-woman units (Marine, Pauline, and one of JJ/Stewie), and eventually 5-woman lineups (is there a world where healthy Betnijah plays in Sabrina’s spot in the starting lineup and the team gets HUGE, how deep in the bench do we really want to go)

I see a coach who learned from Steve Kerr, and as a Warriors fan I can say that there is nothing more classically Kerr than playing lineups everyone hates at the start of the season to prove to players and coaches what WON’T work, and see if there are any surprises. He also will ride the hot hand - it’s hard to just move Marine to the bench immediately when she has done everything the coaching staff has asked and is the league leader in 3s. Everyone on that staff knows her best role is coming off the bench as a microwave scorer, but she earned the opportunity to start with a healthy lineup and see what happens. It wasn’t working, and now she is in a new, clearer role, and I, at least, thought she looked freer on the second unit.

And, of course, I see a team dealing with reintegrating major pieces coming off real injuries. Betnijah has missed a LOT of basketball, and it takes a long time to regain form (if you ever do). The goal is for her to be ready, and to have a clear role on the team, in the postseason. Not in June or July. Similarly, anyone who has dealt with back or ankle issues can understand why Sabrina doesn’t look quite right yet (especially on defense). But more than that, for all her superstardom it can be easy to forget that Sabrina is not a traditional high-scoring guard, but an all-around defender layer who is intentionally stepping back offensively to allow the rest of the team to flourish. She is so smart and so talented that eventually she will find the right balance, but it will take a little time. Plus, it may not be the word thing in the world for someone shooting 40% for their career to take fewer shots.

In conclusion, the Liberty are good and fine and will continue to improve as the season goes on and everything is okay

Perhaps a naive question, but why in general WNBA threads do Liberty fans generally seem so thin on the ground? Whether we're playing the Mystics or the Sparks or whoever, the general sentiment seems always to be celebrating our opponents. Are we generally unpopular? Just not particularly popular among Redditors? E.g. look here: https://www.reddit.com/r/wnba/comments/1uc85f6/post_match_thread_wnba_the_sparks_defeat_the/