The 2025 offseason projects to be less eventful than 2024 when three starters went into the winter as unrestricted free agents.

This time around, they’ll have two unrestricted free agents who finished the regular season as starters. General manager Jonathan Kolb and the front office can begin negotiation with those free agents beginning on Jan. 21. The team can sign those players to contracts beginning on Feb. 1.

Here’s a look at the Liberty free agents this offseason.

BREANNA STEWART

Here we are again.

The Liberty and Stewart enter the 2025 offseason in the same position as last year: At the end of a one-year deal with both sides more than likely to reunite for another season.

In 2024, Kolb used a core designation on Stewart after her MVP season, which kept the star off the open market and gave the franchise exclusive negotiating rights. Weeks later, the two sides came to terms on a one-year deal. The same could happen in 2025. However, if Stewart is cored again, she can no longer be cored for the rest of her career. Per WNBA rules, once a player has played for at least two seasons under a contract or contracts that they signed while cored, that player can’t be cored again.

The Liberty could also re-sign the 2024 All-WNBA First Team selection without using the designation while she’s free to negotiate with other teams. The chances of Stewart not running it back with the Liberty are unlikely, though, given the team’s championship window, presence as a team in the New York market and her own willingness to stay with the squad.

“I’m excited for what we’re doing here in New York and with the Liberty,” Stewart said after the 2023 season before being cored. “Its been amazing to be a part of and I’m looking forward to doing it for many years to come.”

The biggest question is the length of Stewart’s upcoming deal. Players may position themselves for unprecedented paydays as unrestricted free agents in 2026, when the league — and its franchises — will be showered with new money under a possible new CBA and media rights deal.

COURTNEY VANDERSLOOT

Vandersloot was a starter at the end of the 2024 regular season, but lost the role in the postseason after Sandy Brondello replaced her with Leonie Fiebich in Game 1 of the first-round series against the Atlanta Dream.

Vandersloot, who’ll be 36 at the start of the 2025 WNBA season, hasn’t signaled an end to her playing career. And her upcoming debut in new 3-on-3 league Unrivaled further shows retirement may not come soon.

But considering her lessened role — and her age — a reunion with the Liberty could come on a short-term deal at a cheaper price tag.

A paycut isn’t farfetched to the future Hall of Famer, as she decided to take such a deal when joining forces with Stewart in New York prior to the 2024 WNBA season.

KENNEDY BURKE

The need for Burke instantly increased after the Liberty lost Kayla Thornton to the Golden State Valkyries in the December expansion draft.

Burke, who averaged just 3.4 points in 12.1 minutes per game, could get a heightened role with sixth woman Thornton out of the rotation.

Burke, though, could be coveted on the open market just like Thornton was in the expansion draft.

RESERVED PLAYERS

Fan favorite Jaylyn Sherrod and Ivana Djokic are both exclusive rights free agents, or reserve players. Players with this designation get tendered a qualifying offer and can only negotiate with their current team.

The two could be back in seafoam to round out the bench unit in 2025.

The Liberty — the WNBA’s last remaining original franchise — ended its 27-year drought and achieved the elusive title. It was the first basketball title in New York City since the Knicks won the NBA crown in 1973.

Before the basketball world witnessed the Liberty take down the Minnesota Lynx in five thrilling games, the league experienced enormous growth coinciding with the addition of young stars like Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese and Rickea Jackson.

And we even got a first of its kind competition during the 2024 NBA All-Star Weekend: A NBA vs. WNBA 3-point shootout between Steph Curry and Sabrina Ionescu.

It was an eventful year that could yield more exciting innovation and storylines heading into 2025.

Here are some storylines to look forward to in the New Year:

CAN LIBERTY REPEAT?

“We’re not done yet, but we are gonna appreciate the s–t out of this moment.”

Those were the words of Breanna Stewart after parading down the Canyon of Heroes in October. And she’s looking for more.

As of late December, the Liberty are the favorites to repeat as WNBA champions in 2025, according to Fanduel Sportsbook.

Even with sportsbooks in the Liberty’s favor, the team will have to find a replacement — whether on the market or not — for do-it-all reserve Kayla Thornton, who the Golden State Valkyrie selected in the December expansion draft. Stewart, Courtney Vandersloot and Kennedy Burke are all free agents, too. Stewart, though, will certainly remain in New York through a straightforward extension or by core designation, a rule that allows a WNBA team to retain a free agent player’s rights during the free agency period.

The 2023 MVP was cored last offseason before inking a one-year deal.

With the 6-4 superstar remaining, Sandy Brondello will start the season with this core of key championship contributors: Stewart, Jonquel Jones, Ionescu, Betnijah Laney-Hamilton and Leonie Fiebich.

That’s good enough for another Finals run.

WILL UNRIVALED SUCCESS CONTINUE ON COURT?

In previous years, fans in the United States were left unsatisfied with the lack of professional women’s hoops on national TV during the WNBA’s offseason. Athletes Unlimited — set to return in Nashville in February 2025 — began in 2020 and is available through streaming apps.

But here comes Unrivaled, the new six-team, three-on-three league spearheaded by Stewart and Napheesa Collier that is set to begin this January in Miami. All games will be televised on TNT or TruTV.

Since its announcement, news of the league has been positive. All 36 players have equity stake in the league and are guaranteed a minimum six-figure salary. Some players in Unrivaled — like Indiana’s Aliyah Boston and Lexie Hull and Connecticut’s DiJonai Carrington —  have WNBA salaries that didn’t pay them more than $80,000 in 2024.

We at Unrivaled are so incredibly grateful to our stellar investors for their contribution to the league pic.twitter.com/DNh6YgB6BY

— Unrivaled Basketball (@Unrivaledwbb) December 16, 2024

Most recently, the new league concluded an investment round that totaled $35 million dollars. South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley and USC sophomore superstar JuJu Watkins were among the latest investors to chip in.

Will this success off the court translate on the hardwood?

With future Hall of Famers and current All-Stars set to perform — albeit in a streetball format — there’s an opportunity to fulfill a national void that feels like a dead period after the conclusion of the WNBA season.

A successful beginning for the startup could continue the rapid growth and engagement for women’s basketball while keeping some of its stars near home for the offseason.

A potential win-win for all parties.

WHAT WILL PAIGE DO?

The Dallas Wings would happily select UConn star Paige Bueckers with the No. 1 overall selection in the 2025 draft. But will the star guard stay in school or enter the draft after foregoing her final year of collegiate eligibility?

It’s the same position Fever star Caitlin Clark was in while in Iowa during the end of her 2023-2024 collegiate season. She waited until the final stage of the season before finally announcing her decision on Feb 29.

If Bueckers chooses to wait that long, the Wings will have weeks before knowing if the franchise will have to pivot to another prospect or not. Bueckers, who is averaging 20.6 points on 58.4% (career-high) shooting from the field, has until no later than 10 days prior to the draft to declare. If UConn makes it into the NCAA Tournament — which is likely — Bueckers will have 24 hours following her final game to make the decision.

The addition of the WNBA’s 13th and newest franchise — the Golden State Valkyries — pretty much ensured the reigning champion Liberty were going to lose a coveted rotation player in the expansion draft. That uneasy feeling became a reality on Dec. 6 when Thornton became one of 11 players selected to form the foundation of the Valkyries’ inaugural roster.

The player that arrived in Brooklyn from the Dallas Wings as a “throw-in” — a premature analysis quickly proven false — as part of a three-team deal centered around 2021 WNBA MVP Jonquel Jones was a constant contributor during the Liberty’s two recent Finals runs.

Timely sharpshooting. All-out diving plays for loose balls. Constant rotational changes without complaints.

She provided all of that for head coach Sandy Brondello in 2023 and during the franchise’s first-ever championship run in 2024.

Thornton is now gone. But here are some of her finest moments during the 2024 championship-winning campaign.

KT THE SHARPSHOOTER

Thornton’s greatest shooting night of her nine-year WNBA career came in a Liberty jersey on June 22, when she knocked down a career-high six three-pointers in a win against the Los Angeles Sparks. She missed just one attempt and finished 7-of-8 overall for 20 points, a point shy of her career-high.

A game of career-highs @KBT_5Blessed hits her career-high of 3's with 6 made today pic.twitter.com/5eD3eeCCFM

— New York Liberty (@nyliberty) June 22, 2024

“Her name is Ka-Three-La,” All-Star teammate Breanna Stewart said following the win.

The 3-and-D veteran credited her spacing on the night of the barrage, benefitted from the Sparks’ gravity shifting towards Stewart and Jones.

And of course, the dagger in the fourth quarter came on a play the Barclays Center crowd got used to seeing the past two years: a Thornton corner trey right in front of the opponent’s bench.

KT COMES THROUGH ON SHORT NOTICE

Brondello could almost guarantee getting a lift from Thornton throughout the season. And in the midst of injuries and a six-game stretch in 10 days (including five Commissioner’s Cup matchups), the head coach got exactly what she needed.

Brondello informed Thornton she would get the start against a hungry Washington Mystics team looking to play spoiler on May 31 just hours before tip-off in place of Courtney Vandersloot (back).

What Thornton gave the Liberty was 20 points, four assists and five steals in 34 minutes, a season-high. She essentially played second option on a night Sabrina Ionescu led the way with a game-high 24 points and Stewart was inefficient (4-of-13 from the field).

And exactly when the Liberty needed the final knockout blow, Thornton came through like a top option: She drained her fourth trey of the night with 2:06 remaining in regulation to put the Libs up seven then intercepted Washington’s Julie Vanloo’s pass 10 seconds later. Win secured.

These kind of performances allowed to Liberty to win tight games while shorthanded, a key for a team that finished the regular season 32-8 and with the No. 1 overall seed.

THE TUNNEL PLAY

This is the moment that will undoubtedly be featured in a tribute video during Thornton’s first visit to Barclays Center next year as a member of the Valkyries on May 27. And Liberty fans will give her a standing ovation just like they did after this all-out hustle play in the final minutes of a win against the Chicago Sky on July 11.

With Chicago attempting a comeback, Jones’ turnover led to a fast break opportunity for Chicago’s Lindsey Allen. But Thornton had other plans.

Thornton — with the quickness of a sprinter — chased down Allen from the backcourt and deflected Chennedy Carter’s pass that would’ve led to a layup at the rim. Thornton — still with full momentum — then had to think fast running full speed towards the baseline lined with fans and cameramen. She hopped over one cameraman and avoided the first row of fans as her speed led her into the darkness of the Barclays Center tunnel feet away from the hardwood.

No harm, no foul.

Fans erupted as Thornton reappeared under the bright lights, appreciating the moment they just witnessed from a player willing to go all-out for a win.

“I loved it. It was off of my turnover too so I loved it even more,” Jones said. “She got back there and saved me.”

NOT-SO SHORTHANDED

Every team in the WNBA gets hampered with injuries. The great teams have players on reserve to lessen the burden. And Thornton did exactly that by slotting into the starting lineup 11 times throughout the 2024 season as the Liberty dealt with multiple DNPs: Betnijah Laney-Hamilton (knee), Nyara Sabally (back), Vandersloot (back, personal reasons).

The Liberty went undefeated in five Commissioner’s Cup qualification games while Thornton totaled +17 in 73 total minutes in three of those starts.

She finished one point shy of her career-high (21 points with the Dallas Wings in 2022) in starts against the Mystics on May 31 and Sparks on June 22.

And in those 11 starts, the Liberty only lost twice: a six-point defeat to the Phoenix Mercury on June 18 and the loss in the Commissioner’s Cup Title Game against the Minnesota Lynx on June 25.

That much became clear Friday night when the newly minted Golden State Valkyries took forward Kayla Thornton from the defending champions in the WNBA expansion draft.

Thornton, 32, averaged 5.5 points and 2.6 rebounds in 20.3 minutes per game last season, her second with the Liberty. She appeared in all 40 regular-season games, making 11 starts, and played in each of the Liberty’s 11 playoff games as well.

“It is incredibly difficult to say goodbye to a player like KT who contributed to the New York Liberty in so many ways over these past two years, including our franchise’s first-ever championship,” Liberty general manager Jonathan Kolb said in a statement. “KT quickly became an indelible part of the Liberty family.”

Valkyries general manager Ohemaa Nyanin spent five years in the Liberty front office and was there when they acquired Thornton in a 2023 trade with the Dallas Wings.

Thornton, who is entering her 10th season, was one of 11 players selected in Friday’s draft, which formed the foundation of the Valkyries’ inaugural roster.

Every team could protect up to six players from being taken. The Liberty boast one of the WNBA’s deepest rosters, which meant exposing Thornton.

Among the other players taken Friday was Las Vegas Aces guard Kate Martin, a 2024 first-round pick who was college teammates with Caitlin Clark at Iowa.

The Valkyries, who are set to become the 13th WNBA team, also hold the fifth, 17th and 30th picks in the 2025 WNBA Draft.

And now they’ll see the championship banner ascend to the Barclays Center rafters before taking on the Las Vegas Aces in a home-opener on May 17, the Liberty announced Monday.

Here’s the full 2025 schedule for the NY Liberty

– New York will open its 2025 campaign at Barclays Center against the Las Vegas Aces on Saturday, May 17 where the team will commemorate its first title in franchise history. pic.twitter.com/cQfSoPXrp8

— Fiifi Frimpong (@FiifiFrimpong) December 2, 2024

The 2024 semifinals rematch will be the first game for the Liberty in a record-breaking 44-game regular season schedule. The shift comes after the league expanded to 40 games during the 2023-24 seasons. In 2025, each team will split the 44-game schedule with 22 home and away games.

Opening night for the 2025 WNBA season will take place a day prior on May 16, with the Golden State Valkyries, the league’s newest franchise, set to host the Los Angeles Sparks. Also, the 2024 WNBA Finals runner-up Minnesota Lynx will head to Dallas to face the Wings, who own the No. 1 overall pick in the upcoming draft, on opening night.

The Washington Mystics will host the Atlanta Dream for the first matchup between the two teams on opening night.

WNBA All-Star Weekend is set to take place from July 18-19 in Indianapolis. The Liberty will have five days of rest between regular-season games during the break, which is a huge difference from the 29-day break between regular-season games in 2024 due to the Olympic Break.

Additionally, the Libs, who have been featured in both Commissioner’s Cup Finals games, hope to make it back to the in-season tournament title game that takes place on July 1.

Here are more key dates for the Liberty during the historic 2025 season:

 NEW TEAM IN TOWN

Sandy Brondello’s squad will get their first looks at the WNBA’s 13th franchise — the Valkyries — on May 27 and May 29 at Barclays Center. With the new franchise set to pick in the expansion draft this Friday, there’s a chance a familiar face that once donned Liberty seafoam could be wearing Valkyrie violet next spring. 

The May matchups in Barclays Center will also be a homecoming for Valkyries GM Ohemaa Nyanin, who served as Liberty assistant GM under Jonathan Kolb from 2022-24.

FIRST CUP GAME

The Liberty’s road back to a third in-season tournament final begins on June 1, a Cup Game matchup against the Connecticut Sun at Barclays Center.

It’s the first of five games against Eastern Conference opponents. While each Eastern Conference team plays five, Western Conference teams will play six with the addition of Golden State.

Eastern Conference teams will play either three Commissioner’s Cup games at home and two on the road, or two at home and three on the road. Western Conference teams will play three games each at home and on the road. All intraconference Cup games will count toward a team’s regular-season win-loss record.

The team from each conference with the top record in Commissioner’s Cup games will compete for a $500,000 prize pool in the Commissioner’s Cup Championship. In addition, $120,000 in cryptocurrency will be added to the prize pool, which includes $5,000 for each player in the championship game.

In 2023, Jonquel Jones won Commissioner’s Cup Game MVP after helping the Liberty defeat the Las Vegas Aces at Michelob Ultra Arena. Last season, the Liberty — who had to play the title game at Long Island’s UBS Arena following a puzzling schedule conflict — missed out on the extra cash after losing to Napheesa Collier and the Lynx. 

VISITING PAIGE BUECKERS?

The Dallas Wings will host the Liberty on July 28, giving the defending champs a possible first glance at presumptive No.1 overall pick Paige Bueckers. Bueckers, who still has one year of NCAA eligibility remaining, could form a dynamic backcourt alongside star Arike Ogunbowale if she decides to forgo a final season at UConn.

In six games this collegiate season, Bueckers is averaging personal-bests in points (22.0), field-goal percentage (62.7) and three-point percentage (46.4) to go along with 4.5 assists, 4.5 rebounds and 2.5 steals per game.

FINALS REMATCH

Two days after a possible matchup against Bueckers, the Libs will finally meet the Lynx on the road on July 30. The first 2025 matchup will be nearly 10 months after the Liberty eliminated the Lynx in Game 5 of a thrilling WNBA Finals series.

The Liberty will then face off against the Lynx three more times the following month: Aug. 10 (home), Aug. 16 (away) and Aug. 19 (home).

LAST GAME

Brondello and her team conclude the 2025 season on the road against Angel Reese and the Chicago Sky on Sept. 11.

Fans lined up hours before the start of Thursday’s Liberty parade celebrating the franchise’s very first WNBA title.

And they were in for a treat.

Liberty legend Teresa Weatherspoon linked up with the mascot from the team’s Madison Square Garden days: Maddie the Mascot.

Superstar Breanna Stewart popped bottles of  Ace of Spade champagne on her personal Puma float — one before the parade even began.

“I’ve lived here for 14 years. They deserve it,” said a member of the Timeless Torches, the dance group featured at every Barclays Center home game.

Finals MVP Jonquel Jones hoisted her trophy on a float with Caribbean music blaring — fitting for the 6-6 Bahamian star.

Classic New York anthems were also heard through the route up Broadway from Jay Z and Alicia Keys’ Empire State of Mind, Jay-Z & Cam’Ron’s Welcome to New York City, Dipset’s I Really Mean It to 50 Cent’s I Get Money.

And of course: Ellie the Elephant was present to steal the show.

Ellie, Liberty players and staff ended their Canyon of Heroes celebration at City Hall shortly after the parade.

Attorney General Letitia James and New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams joined Liberty representatives on the City Hall steps.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul spoke and so did Mayor Eric Adams, who was greeted briefly with boos while a DJ played music. “They’re saying, to hell with people judging me, we’re gonna be who we are, and we’re gonna play to win,” Adams said of the team.

Each member of the Liberty received a key to the city from Adams as part of the ceremony.

Broadcaster Ros Gold-Onwude emceed the event where Liberty brass were showered with more confetti and appreciation.

The love was reciprocated throughout the ceremony.

“We all did it together, but really, really proud to be standing up here. I felt like I’m a New Yorker,” said Australian head coach Sandy Brondello.

“It means a lot to be able to bring the first championship here,” said Stewart, who is the lone New Yorker on the Liberty roster. “ My first WNBA game was a Liberty game when we played at MSG. So to be able to [have that] full circle moment, come here, come back, bring the championship here. I mean I appreciate you guys so much. This has been an incredible journey.

“We’re not done yet, but we are gonna appreciate the s–t out of this moment.”

It was a fitting celebration for a Liberty team that beat the Minnesota Lynx in five thrilling games in the WNBA Finals to bring New York City its first basketball title since the Knicks won the NBA crown in 1973. The WNBA title was New York’s first Big 5 sports title since Gotham FC won the National Women’s Soccer League Championship in 2023.

The last team honored with this classic New York tradition was the U.S. women’s national soccer team after winning the World Cup in 2019.

The Yankees, who begin the World Series against the Dodgers on Friday in L.A., have a chance at bringing fans back to the Canyon of Heroes in a few weeks. They last paraded up the Canyon of Heroes after beating the Phillies in the 2009 World Series.

“I’m so proud of them as the first woman governor. I love a women’s team that brings home the championship,” said Hochul.

“As we’re coming to the end of this month, I have one message for the boys, because the girls, the women have done it. Now it’s up to you — New York Yankees.”

But for now it’s the Liberty who received all the love riding along Broadway to City Hall.

Those that couldn’t get a spot near a barricade were seen watching from the windows of their apartments.

Constructions workers took time off to watch atop a few of the many scaffolds set up downtown. And kids were hanging off bus stops along the parade route.

All for the New York Liberty, an original WNBA franchise that waited 28 years before grabbing the crown.

— With Josephine Stratman

Fans can also text “LIBERTY” to (917) 909-2288 or sign up online at the Liberty website for alerts.

Where and when is the Liberty victory parade?

The parade will start at Battery Park at 10 a.m. on Thursday and continue down Broadway until it reaches City Hall. This well-known stretch of road is known as the Canyon of Heroes and has hosted more than 200 ticker tape parades since the 1800s.

The Liberty will also host a celebration immediately afterward at City Hall. Then at 7 p.m., the team will throw another party with fans at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

How to attend the postparade celebrations:

The City Hall and Barclays Center celebrations will be ticketed events, for which fans can sign up online at the Liberty website. Immediately after clinching the title, the team said tickets to the Barclays event would be free.

“This championship is not only for us and New York City — it’s for all Liberty Loyals and our Brooklyn community! We are honored to celebrate at the iconic Canyon of Heroes, and also come together with our passionate fans at our home in Brooklyn,” Liberty CEO Keia Clarke said. “The community in the borough has embraced us wholeheartedly since we began playing at Barclays Center and we want to share this moment with them.”

What are the best places to see the parade?

Unless you have access to one of the office buildings along the Canyon of Heroes, the best place to see the parade is from street level on Broadway. The entire parade route is less than a mile, and all viewing points along the road are about equally good. Temperatures are expected to be in the mid-60s with little cloud cover or chance of rain.

The parade will also be broadcast locally on CBS, NBC and Fox, with coverage starting at 9:30 a.m.

Thursday’s parade will be the first in the Canyon of Heroes since 2021, when health care heroes and essential workers were honored after the COVID-19 pandemic. The last sports team to enjoy a ticker tape parade was the 2019 U.S. women’s soccer team, which won the World Cup.

The most recent New York sports team to traverse the Canyon of Heroes was the New York Giants after their February 2012 Super Bowl win — though the Liberty could soon be joined by the Yankees.

Those words came from a teary-eyed Jonquel Jones moments after her Liberty team won its first championship in franchise history and seconds after hoisting her WNBA Finals MVP award on the Barclays Center hardwood.

The emotions overcame the 6-6 Jones, who landed in Brooklyn during the 2023 offseason looking for a new start to her WNBA career. The 2021 MVP specifically requested a trade to Brooklyn after six seasons with the Connecticut Sun, including two WNBA Final defeats that left her games away from earning a title.

On Sunday night, she contributed a team-high 17 points and six rebounds in a gutsy do-or-die Game 5 overtime victory over the Minnesota Lynx. She was part of a rarely used Sandy Brondello rotation — Jones, Nyara Sabally, Leonie Fiebich, Sabrina Ionescu and Breanna Stewart — that inspired its own brand of lengthy, gritty, bully-ball basketball which helped flip a seven-point halftime deficit to a three-point lead going into the fourth quarter.

Jones’ and-1 layup over Bridget Carleton with four minutes remaining third quarter contributed to the run and induced one of the loudest ovations from the raucous sellout crowd as her team honed in on the Lynx.

It all helped keep the Liberty in the game, and eventually get them into overtime. And when star teammate Breanna Stewart dribbled the clock out in overtime, she was first greeted by Jones.

While Stewart was the biggest domino to fall during the Liberty’s 2023 star-studded offseason overhaul, she also helped recruit Jones to Brooklyn.

All of their conversations of what a roster with both of them on it came to fruition as the Barclays Center clocks hit zero. For Jones, it was her first title in her eighth WNBA season.

“When I hugged Stewie, I was sobbing in her ear. I didn’t say one word,” Jones said after Game 5. “I was just crying the whole time. I’m so happy to win and do it with her. We talked about it so much, about coming together and what we envisioned of what we wanted to do in New York, and what we could do, to be able to pull it off and accomplish a dream. It’s so freaking hard to do. It just means a lot. It means a lot.

“I told her this before, but I’ve watched Stewie be great for so long, in high school and then in college and then in the WNBA. For a long time, she was that person that I was kind of like chasing in college; I want my game to be at her level and play against her in the WNBA and to ultimately be teammates.

“It really just means a lot to be able to win with her and to watch the way that she approaches the game every day. The way that she leads our team, because she is our leader and we look to her in tough moments. So it just really means a lot to have everything come together and to be able to win together.”

Stewart added: “I think that first I had to bring the ball over half court because I didn’t want to get an eight-second violation.

“But then I think it was picture perfect to be able to embrace JJ. Really what I was saying was like, she led us. Her dominance in the paint, on the boards, help-side defense. Everything that we needed, she was there.

“She had to wait awhile to get to this point, to get to the Finals to win a championship. But the wait was worth it.”

On a team that includes stars like Stewart, Ionescu, Betnijah Laney-Hamilton and Courtney Vandersloot, the Liberty went as far as Jones took them. A Jones double-double almost guaranteed a Liberty victory during the 2024 regular season. In games Jones struggled with lack of touches and foul trouble, the Liberty struggled.

She was the most consistent Liberty player in the 2023 postseason whereas Ionescu and Stewart struggled mightily. Her reliable performances in the 2023 postseason came after a rocky regular-season start in a Liberty jersey due to a foot injury suffered in the 2022 WNBA Finals as a member of the Sun.

She hit her stride in the 2023 postseason, recording eight consecutive double-doubles, the most in a single postseason in WNBA history. But it all ended — the streak and the season — at the hands of a dominant Las Vegas Aces squad destined to achieve its second consecutive title. 

Jones — and the Liberty — got payback in Game 4 of this year’s semifinals series. Jones’ trey with two minutes in regulation was the final haymaker that ended Las Vegas’ dreams of a WNBA three-peat.

That Game 4 clinching-win set up the WNBA Finals series against the Lynx, a team they lost the Commissioner’s Cup Final to and the regular-season series, 2-1.

The Lynx relatively held Jones in check in the regular season. The big exploded for 21 points and 12 rebounds in a July 2 win, but combined for 13 points (4-of-12 shooting) and 11 rebounds in the other two regular-season losses. Jones’ performance in the Commissioner’s Cup Final was poor too: three points (0-of-3 from the field) and 12 rebounds.

But redemption was achieved — again — with a gutsy Game 5 Finals win and WNBA Finals MVP award.

It doesn’t get better than that.

“For me, I’m happy,” Jones said. “Just really happy and trying to take in the moment and enjoy every aspect of it. I’m just up here smiling and thanking Jesus and thanking my teammates. Yeah, just enjoying the moment.”

She used it to describe the forthcoming celebrations for her Liberty, whose 67-62 victory over the Minnesota Lynx in Game 5 of the WNBA Finals on Sunday night clinched the long-awaited first championship in the original franchise’s 28-year history.

Let the celebrations begin.

New York City will hold a ticker-tape parade for the Liberty along the Canyon of Heroes in Lower Manhattan on Thursday at 10 a.m., followed by a celebration at City Hall, Mayor Adams announced Monday.

The Liberty will also host a celebration at Barclays Center starting at 7 p.m. Thursday that fans can attend by claiming a free ticket on the team’s website.

Those details came a day after Adams announced five buildings — including City Hall and Brooklyn Borough Hall — would be lit in seafoam on Monday night to honor the Liberty.

“The fans have been amazing everywhere we’ve gone, but to be able to bring a championship to New York, first ever in franchise history, it’s an incredible feeling,” Stewart said after Game 5. “I literally can’t wait to continue to celebrate with the city because I know it’s going to be bonkers.”

Thursday’s ticker-tape parade is set to be the first in New York to celebrate a sports team since 2019, when the Canyon of Heroes commemorated the United States women’s national soccer team after it won the FIFA World Cup.

The last ticker-tape parade there for any occasion came in 2021 in recognition of healthcare employees and other essential workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

There have been more than 200 ticker-tape parades in New York since the first in 1886, when an impromptu celebration descended upon the Canyon of Heroes in conjunction with the Statue of Liberty being dedicated.

“At a time when the rest of the country is finally acknowledging the endless talent in our WNBA, we are proud to have New York City bring home the trophy,” Adams said in a statement Sunday night. “To our WNBA champions, thank you for being a role model to our city, and showcasing the values of grit, determination, and hard work.”

Stewart, a two-time Finals champion with the Seattle Storm, signed with the Liberty before the 2023 season, helping to form a superteam also featuring Sabrina Ionescu and Jonquel Jones.

The Liberty lost each of their first five trips to the Finals, including last year in four games to the Las Vegas Aces.

This year’s championship did not come easily, with the Lynx coming back from an 18-point deficit in their Game 1 win, while two of the games — including the winner-take-all Game 5 — went to overtime. All five games came down to the wire.

Stewart shot an uncharacteristically low 32.6% from the field in the Finals, including going 5-of-21 in Game 4 and 4-of-15 in Game 5, but she made an impact nonetheless with her effort, rebounding and defense.

It was a similarly uneven series for Sabrina Ionescu, who made an instant-classic, game-winning 3-pointer in Game 3 but made only one of her 19 field-goal attempts in Game 5 and shot 29.6% for the series.

Jones was named Finals MVP after the 6-6 center averaged 17.8 points and 7.6 rebounds per game.

“Last year, we lost in the Finals, but look at us,” Stewart said Sunday. “Now we’re here. Can’t wait to celebrate. I don’t know, see me at the parade.”