The New York Liberty is a Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) team based in New York City. They are one of the eight original WNBA teams that began to see action in 1997, as well one of the most successful teams in WNBA history. Despite making the WNBA playoffs almost every season and appearing in the WNBA Finals 4 times, they have yet to win a championship. The team derives its name from the Statue of Liberty. They are the sister team of the New York Knicks.
Prior to the team's first season, to avoid potential trademark infringement, the team purchased the trademarks of the defunct Liberty Basketball Association. The adage "Always the bridesmaid, never the bride," could be used to describe the Liberty. When the WNBA opened in 1997, the Liberty was one of the first teams to choose a player, and they signed college superstar Rebecca Lobo (University of Connecticut) to a contract. Lobo was a starter for two seasons but was injured in 1999, and her injuries eventually led to her retirement several seasons later. Point guard Teresa Weatherspoon emerged as a star and the Liberty made it to the 1997 championship game, where the team lost to the Houston Comets. In 1999, they returned to the WNBA Finals, where they again faced Comets. In game 2, Teresa Weatherspoon's full court shot with point five seconds remaining gave the Liberty a one point win that tied the series. However, the Liberty lost the third game of the series and the Comets become champions for a third straight time.
The Liberty subsequently returned to the finals in 2000 and 2002, but lost once again to the Comets and to the Los Angeles Sparks, respectively. In 2001, Weatherspoon became the WNBA's all-time assist leader, and Sue Wicks, once a back-up to Lobo at forward, also proved to be a valuable player, making the All-Star game. 1998, 2003, and 2006 were the only years the Liberty failed to make the playoffs.
2003 marked a transition for the Liberty, with team leader Teresa Weatherspoon's WNBA career winding down, fan favorite Becky Hammon emerged as a star player. The 2004 season saw Hammon replacing Weatherspoon at the team's starting point guard spot.
Six games during the 2004 season were moved to Radio City Music Hall as Madison Square Garden was hosting the 2004 Republican National Convention. These games marked the first time Radio City had hosted a professional sporting event since the Roy Jones Jr. boxing match held in 1999.
With team leader Tari Phillips being signed to the Houston Comets, Ann Wauters emerged as a force at the team's starting center position in 2005. However, she was injured midway through the season. The loss of Wauters was felt as the team was swept two games to none by the Indiana Fever in the first round of the playoffs.
At the beginning of the 2007 WNBA season the team traded Becky Hammon to the San Antonio Silver Stars for Jessica Davenport, a first round pick in the 2007 WNBA Draft. The 2007 Liberty started out 5-0, then lost 7 straight games, and then rallied at the end of the season to get the last playoff spot by winning 3 out of their last 4 games, beating the Washington Mystics on the tiebreaker of head-to-head record. In the Eastern Conference semifinals, the Liberty, as huge underdogs, faced the defending champion Detroit Shock in a best-of-three series. The Liberty defeated the Shock by winning Game 1 in New York. In Games 2 and 3 the Liberty lost both games to the Shock in Detroit, 76-73 and 71-70 (OT) respectively.
The 2008 season will feature the "Liberty Outdoor Classic" when they will be playing the first ever professional regular season basketball game to be played outdoors when the WNBA New York Liberty will play the Indiana Fever on July 19, 2008 at Arthur Ashe Stadium of the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.
