The New York Liberty moved on from Sandy Brondello after the 2025 season despite her delivering the franchise its first ring. That put high expectations on her replacement, Chris DeMarco, who was unable to deliver on those.

DeMarco, whose entire background was in men's basketball, led one of the league's most talented rosters to an eighth-place finish. A first-round upset over the No. 1 seed Lynx looked like it might save his job, but the front office clearly decided they'd seen enough in the regular season, opting to move on from DeMarco after just one season.

Now comes a crucial hire. A team led by Breanna Stewart can't afford to make two bad ones in a row, so these four coaches need to be on the short list for who the Liberty contact. 

Lindsey Harding

The No. 1 overall pick in the 2007 WNBA Draft, Lindsey Harding spent a decade playing in the WNBA. The former point guard never quite reached the level she did in college as a player, but it was clear that any limitations she faced in the WNBA weren't mental ones. Harding always had an astute understanding of the game, so it should come as no surprise that she went into coaching after her playing career.

Harding hasn't coached in women's basketball, which you might think contradicts what I was saying in the opening, but her long playing career and her experience as an NBA assistant coach, including with the Lakers since 2024, puts her in the same situation that Becky Hammon was in when she was hired to coach the Las Vegas Aces. That decision pretty clearly worked out in Vegas' favor.

The hope would be that like Hammon, Harding would view the WNBA as the destination, not as a stepping stone to an NBA job. That was a concern when Hammon was first hired, but doesn't really seem like one now. New York should take a chance on Harding feeling the same way.

Jenny Boucek

Looking to go for someone with WNBA experience and also experience working with your best player? Jenny Boucek fits that build.

The Seattle Storm head coach from 2015 to 2017, Boucek was Breanna Stewart's head coach for the first two seasons of her career. Of course, her tenure there ended because the Storm were disappointing, going 36-58 during her tenure, but that was also a decade ago. Since being fired by Seattle, Boucek has switched over to coaching as an NBA assistant, and she's been with the Pacers since 2021.

Boucek's struggles in her lone head coaching tenure is definitely a concern, but sports history is full of coaches who struggled at their first stop and then succeeded when given another chance later on. The Liberty will need to be convinced that she's built to be that kind of coach, but she's at least worth an interview if she's interested in returning to the league.

Briann January

I'm thoroughly convinced that Briann January is going to be a very good head coach someday. The question right now is just if January, who last played for the Seattle Storm in 2022, is ready for that shot now with a roster that's looking to be an instant contender.

Since retiring, January has been an assistant coach in four places, starting at Arizona State before taking a WNBA job with the Sun, then a G League job with the Motor City Cruise and then her current position as an assistant with the Fever.

January kind of fits the mold of what you want in a former player turned coach, which is that she played point guard in the league for over a decade and excelled as both a passer and defender. That defensive experience is especially intriguing. Backcourt defense is definitely not a strength in New York, but maybe having a five-time WNBA All-Defensive First Team selection calling the shots would help improve that.

James Wade

Alright, here's the big swing. Can a WNBA team get a championship-winning coach to return to the league?

James Wade coached the Chicago Sky from 2019 to 2023, winning Coach of the Year in his first season and a title in 2021. Chicago improved notably when he took the job, then struggled as soon as he left the job. It's very clear that Wade's a high-level coach who can elevate a roster, which is exactly what New York needs.

Here's the problem: Wade left the WNBA in a really strange fashion. In July 2023, he stepped down from the Sky midseason to take an assistant head coaching job with the Toronto Raptors. There's definitely a "how committed is this guy to the WNBA" question here. But Wade's tenure with the Raptors has now ended, and New York should at least reach out to see if he's gotten enough taste of the NBA and would like to return to the league where he found true success.