Although the Liberty's mission to run it back in 2025 fell short of their championship expectations, New York's stars want to return in '26 playing for coach Sandy Brondello.

Behind a historic triple-double from Mercury phenom Alyssa Thomas, the Liberty fell 79-73 to Phoenix at PHX Arena, ending their season in the first round of the WNBA playoffs. After the game, Liberty stars Breanna Stewart and Sabrina Ionescu took the podium alongside Brondello to field questions from the media.

One question in particular seemed to irk Stewart. To close out the press conference, a reporter asked what the two players would say to those who believe Brondello shouldn't return as the Liberty's head coach in 2026.

"What the f---," Stewart muttered quietly to herself before going on to defend the veteran coach.

"To anybody that kind of questions Sandy being there, this is a resilient group," Stewart said. "She has our back and we have hers. The way she continues to deal with the cards she was dealt was incredible. It wasn't easy for anybody, but she came in with a positive attitude and a mindset to put us in our best position possible and best foot forward. We're not going to be a team that points fingers. There's a lot of us that could've done better this season. But we're still going to fight and show up for each other every single day, and I think that's the most important part.

"We have Sandy's back."

Brondello just wrapped up her 13th season as a head coach in the WNBA and her fourth with the Liberty. Over those four years, New York has compiled a 107-53 record with two WNBA Finals appearances and a championship in '24.

The Liberty's 2025 campaign was riddled with injury issues and underperforming players. But the team's core plans to give it another shot next summer.

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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Breanna Stewart Passionately Defends Liberty Coach From Job Security Question.

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