Chris DeMarco is out as head coach of the New York Liberty after just one season in charge, sources told ESPN on Tuesday.
The move comes weeks after New York was bounced from the playoffs in the semifinals. In the aftermath of that elimination, DeMarco said without hesitation that he expected to be back for 2027. The team's three stars, Breanna Stewart, Sabrina Ionescu and Jonquel Jones, were less committal when asked whether they hoped and expected he would return, declining to give him a definitive endorsement.
Stewart said after the season-ending loss that she "1,000%" believed the roster had the personnel to win a championship, adding that "what I'm thinking about right now is just the missed opportunity."
Asked about DeMarco, Stewart pointed to the team's uneven form. "I don't think we were consistent throughout the season," she said. "I think that we started to show some life and peak a little bit in towards the end and in the playoffs. But this is not like cramming for a test. You got to be ready and ready to go since the jump."
The Liberty will now hire their third coach in three years, and the fourth head coaching appointment of general manager Jonathan Kolb's tenure. New York moved on from Sandy Brondello in September 2025 following a first-round playoff exit, only a year after the franchise captured its first WNBA title. Speaking to reporters last year about the hire that followed Brondello's departure, Kolb said, "We need to nail this. If we're going to make a bold decision like this, our players deserve to get the best."
DeMarco arrived in Brooklyn carrying internal and external championship expectations, having spent more than a decade on staff with the Golden State Warriors and served as head coach of the Bahamas men's national team since 2019. His first WNBA season was rocky. New York opened 13-12 before rallying to win the Commissioner's Cup and closing the regular season at 26-18, which secured the No. 8 and final playoff seed.
Injuries complicated the campaign. Ionescu and guard Leonie Fiebich each missed significant stretches, Satou Sabally appeared in only 13 games before being ruled out for the season, and Betnijah Laney-Hamilton fell out of the rotation and was waived four days after the trade deadline.
The Liberty swept the top-seeded Minnesota Lynx in their best-of-three first-round series, then were swept 3-0 by the No. 4 seed Atlanta Dream in the semifinals. DeMarco's inexperience showed in the postseason, most notably in the controversial finish to Game 2, when he failed to use the Liberty's final reset timeout at the end of overtime and did not stop the game to clarify whether the team had one remaining.
New York's vacancy is the second head coaching opening of the WNBA offseason, joining the Los Angeles Sparks, who parted ways with Lynne Roberts. Whoever takes the job will inherit a roster built to contend immediately: Stewart, Jones and Ionescu are all under contract through 2028, giving the Liberty a championship window of at least two more years.
