BROOKLYN — When the New York Liberty take the court this season they won’t be the first team that calls Barclays Center home that has an oversized set of expectations placed upon them. That’s usually what happens when you add some of the biggest names in women’s basketball onto one team.
Breanna Stewart, Courtney Vanderslooty and Jonquel Jones joined a Liberty roster that already included the likes of Sabrina Ionescu, DiDi Richards and Stefanie Dolson. Now, New York will be expected to win a title this upcoming season, which begins on May 19, and general manager Jonathan Kolb has fully embraced that.
“To have expectations means we’ve earned them, right? And that’s from this offseason,” Kolb said during the team’s media day. “And we embrace those expectations, but we know what comes with them. And that’s a day-by-day process to get better. And every single player including Stewie wants to get better every single day. Coaching staff, front office and so that’s what this is really about. And then from that, I believe, good things will follow. The success will come as long as we’re being really detailed in our process.
“I think at the end of the day, of course, our goal is the last team standing and we believe that we’ve got a process in place to lead us in that direction.”
Kolb has certainly done his part to put the Liberty in a position to do that. New York, which still has not won a WNBA title despite being one of the league’s original franchises, added two former league MVPs, a four-time WNBA All-Star and a player who is considered one of the greatest point guards in league history.
The Liberty had already had an established leadership group in place before the massive offseason and the three WNBA superstars aren’t taking their status for granted on their new team.
“I think it’s a team sport, obviously,” Jones said. “And so anybody that comes in is going to be in addition. Obviously, we all bring different…
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