NEW YORK — As confetti fell and Frank Sinatra’s “New York, New York” blared through the arena, the New York Liberty celebrated the end of a long odyssey.
The team that always fell short, starting from their days in Madison Square Garden, through detours to Radio City Music Hall and Westchester County Center, finally found their way to the top Sunday night at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center.
Start spreading the news, indeed: There’s finally a pro basketball champion in New York again after the top-seeded Liberty’s 67-62 overtime win over the second-seeded Minnesota Lynx in the deciding Game 5 of the WNBA Finals.
“I’ve been manifesting this moment for a while; there’s no feeling like it,” said New York forward Breanna Stewart, who won league championships with the Seattle Storm in 2018 and 2020 but joined the Liberty ahead of the 2023 season.
“Credit to Minnesota, they gave us a tough series. The fans have been amazing everywhere we’ve gone. To bring a championship to New York, first ever in franchise history, it’s an incredible feeling. I can’t wait to continue to celebrate with the city. It’s going to be bonkers.”