NEW YORK — Sandy Brondello didn’t emerge from the visitors tunnel until roughly three minutes before tipoff between her new team, the Toronto Tempo, and her former one, the New York Liberty.
A series of greetings ensued as soon as she did.
First, Betnijah Laney-Hamilton came over to the Tempo bench as she worked through some last-minute warmups. Then came Leonie Fiebich. At one point, one of Brondello’s new staff members rested their hand on her back as if to say, “Enjoy this.”
Before the Tempo’s 97-82 loss Wednesday night, Brondello said she hoped the celebration would be limited to the pictures displayed on screens throughout Barclays Center welcoming back her, Isabelle Harrison, Nyara Sabally and assistants Olaf Lange and Brian Lankton. But during the first timeout, the Liberty’s public address announcer directed everyone’s attention to the video board for a tribute.
“Coming back, obviously it was nice,” Brondello said after the game, referencing her four historic seasons with the franchise before parting ways this offseason. “Everyone moves around this league. Going back to an old team, and to get the appreciation that we get, that’s always special. The fans here have been amazing. It’s a special group here and something that we’ll remember.”
Upon landing in the city Tuesday afternoon, Brondello said she felt no notable emotion.
She immediately drove into Manhattan for a speaking engagement at the American Australian Association, which served as a source of entertainment for the former Liberty coach.
Brondello seemed taken aback by how often she was asked how she felt. Maybe she truly felt nothing. Or maybe, after four years, two WNBA Finals appearances, one historic championship run and an abrupt departure, her range of emotions was too much to simplify. What she was willing to say was that in Toronto, she feels supported and like she can be herself.
“I’m going to coach some great games, some good games, and I’m going to make some mistakes,” Brondello said. “Let me learn by doing it. I’ve been doing this for quite a long time. I know what a winning culture looks like and a winning team.”
Brondello wasn’t surprised by the Liberty’s decision to part with her after the 2025 season. “It’s part of the business, isn’t it?”
In four seasons, she became the winningest coach in franchise history, accumulating a 123-64 overall record and leading the organization to its first WNBA championship. Despite that success, the pairing was no longer viable. The Liberty (6-4) hired Chris DeMarco, a former assistant with the NBA’s Golden State Warriors.
In a May interview with The Athletic, Jonquel Jones said she wasn’t aware of plans for a coaching change. She went into her exit interview discussing changes the Liberty could make before the 2026 season, only to find out later that Brondello would not be back. She apologetically texted Brondello upon hearing the news.
“I didn’t want her to feel like I was kicking (them) when they were down or anything like that,” Jones said. “There are some aspects where I understand, and there’s also some aspects where this is somebody that you won a championship with, you did something historic with. A little bit of both.”
Sabrina Ionescu told The Athletic last month that, as a player, she was focused on being where her feet were when asked about her knowledge of the coaching change. Breanna Stewart, who played for four coaches during her seven seasons with the Seattle Storm, alluded to some level of knowledge.
“I’ve had my fair share of W coaches,” Stewart said last month. “To go back a little bit, you can tell when there’s going to be a change or a kind of transition that’s going to happen from within.”
All three expressed immense gratitude for Brondello and what they collectively accomplished, and she mirrored that sentiment while acknowledging that “one door closes and another one opens.”
In Toronto, Brondello is experiencing a new kind of historic season as the first coach to lead a WNBA team in Canada. The Tempo are the league’s latest expansion team, entering the league alongside the Portland Fire and a year after the Golden State Valkyries made history as the first expansion team to make the playoffs in their first season.
The top eight teams in the WNBA make the postseason. The Tempo came into Wednesday’s game ranked seventh in the league and have a 5-5 record.
“What’s a successful season?” Brondello posed. “If we keep getting better and we push some of the better teams, but we’re growing and have a growth mindset. That’s the thing, but I still want to do well. I don’t get too high or too low because it’s a process.”
Tempo’s defensive flaws
The Tempo give up a league-worst 45.3 points in the paint per game to opponents. They’re currently without center Temi Fangbenle, who is sidelined with a right shoulder injury, and forward Isabelle Harrison, who has a right hand injury. As a result, Nyara Sabally has taken on a heavy load defending in the paint.
Jones scored 17 of her game-high 22 points in the first half and grabbed 17 rebounds on the night.
The Tempo’s overall defensive rating (111.1) ranks 14th in the league. The Liberty are the league’s second-best 3-point shooting team, shooting 36.8 percent from deep on average. But the Tempo allowed them to shoot 14-of-32 from behind the arc.
All five Liberty starters finished in double figures in scoring.
“There’s another level we need to go to defensively,” Brondello said. “We gave up too many open 3s. We were late on everything — our congestion, our sense of urgency on closeouts. We’re still learning. Some of these players are still learning and learning the players. They shot the 3-ball really great.”
Injury updates
Ionescu missed her ninth game of the season for the Liberty. She was out early in the season with a left foot injury, but since making her debut against the Dallas Wings on May 24, she has been listed as out with back soreness.
DeMarco said she’s day to day, but he’s hopeful she’ll be available Saturday to face the Indiana Fever at home.
Tempo guard Kiki Rice left the game late in the fourth quarter after landing awkwardly and appearing to suffer an ankle injury. Brondello didn’t have an update on her status.
The Tempo and the Las Vegas Aces are the only teams without a developmental player on their rosters. Asked whether injuries change that, Brondello said she anticipates general manager Monica Wright Rogers and assistant general manager Eli Horowitz will discuss the possibility of using DPs and who might fill that role for them.