Sandy Brondello spoke publicly for the first time about her ouster as Liberty head coach, and pointed to a lack of “alignment” with the team’s front office.
Brondello, who led the Liberty to their first WNBA championship in 2024, was fired Sept. 23 in the aftermath of this year’s first-round playoff exit.
“I just felt that it probably wasn’t the right fit anymore, to be quite honest,” Brondello said on Sue Bird’s “Bird’s Eye View” podcast in an episode released Friday. “And obviously, it was a leadership decision there. And I work best when I’m in a partnership.”
Brondello, 57, last week agreed to become the first coach of the expansion Toronto Tempo. Even if she had the chance to stay with the Liberty for a fifth season, she now says, “I probably couldn’t have done it.”
“It was just time,” Brondello said. “Players need a new voice, and I need new challenges. If the alignment gets a little bit off, you know, astray, it’s time to move.”
Later in the interview, discussing how the Liberty’s offense “slipped” in the 2024 Finals, Brondello said, “There probably was not alignment on what that looks like and how we could get better.”
When Liberty general manager Jonathan Kolb explained the Brondello firing in September, he said, “Ultimately, we determined that evolution and innovation is what is needed at this time.” He also said he contemplated making a coaching switch back in 2024.
“We had just won, but you probably didn’t have as much joy as you wanted because … well, you didn’t do this,” Brondello said, seemingly referencing critiques of the team’s performance. “I wasn’t perfect. I made some mistakes, like obviously the players do. We didn’t shoot the ball well, but we won a championship. It doesn’t matter how we won a championship because we did it together, and it should be a special time.”
The Liberty are the only WNBA team without a head coach as their search stretches into a third calendar month. Known candidates, as reported by noti.group’s Madeline Kenney, include Mercury assistant coach Kristi Toliver, former Nets assistant coach Will Weaver and Rockets G-League head coach Joseph Blair.
Bird asked Brondello, “Did you feel the expectations were unrealistic or do you have an understanding around championship-or-bust mentality?”
“I suppose a bit of the both,” Brondello said.
She left as the franchise’s all-time winningest coach.
“I had four great years,” Brondello said. “What we’ve done in New York and to be a part of that, it was fantastic. And if they want to move on, that’s fine.”
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
