{"id":793732,"date":"2026-07-30T17:17:12","date_gmt":"2026-07-30T17:17:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/793732\/"},"modified":"2026-07-30T17:17:12","modified_gmt":"2026-07-30T17:17:12","slug":"liberty-mascot-ellie-the-elephant-shuts-down-dating-rumors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/793732\/","title":{"rendered":"Liberty Mascot Ellie the Elephant Shuts Down Dating Rumors"},"content":{"rendered":"

Good news, boys and bulls. Ellie the Elephant <\/a>is single.<\/p>\n

The New York Liberty mascot shot down rumors that she was dating Las Vegas Aces mascot, BUCKET$, after a photo of them circulated on social media during 2026 WNBA All-Star weekend in Chicago.<\/p>\n

\u201cI try not to be messy or dig into peoples\u2019 personal lives but this looks like [a] soft launch to me,\u201d one user wrote via X<\/a> alongside a tightly cropped photo of the two mascots posing together.<\/p>\n

Ellie, 5, quoted the post, responding<\/a> with, \u201cMeanwhile this is a GROUP PHOTO . \ud83d\udc80. As for me, I\u2019m single\u2026 idk about everybody else tho \ud83d\ude43 \ud83c\udf75 \ud83d\ude02.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\"Nikki
\n\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t
\n Related: Where Nikki Garcia Really Stands With Cooper DeJean Amid Romance Rumors<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tNikki Garcia is in a good place \u2014 and enjoying the single life \u2014 as her rumored romance with Philadelphia Eagles star Cooper DeJean has taken flight in the headlines. Garcia, 42, has \u201cgone to a couple games\u201d when DeJean, 22, was playing, a source exclusively tells Us Weekly. \u201cThey have hung out,\u201d the insider [\u2026]\t\t<\/p>\n

She followed that up with a zoomed-out version of the photo, showing she and BUCKET$, 8, were actually with several other mascots from around the league. Ellie did not address how it appears she and BUCKET$ are standing closer together than anyone else in the photo.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot buying this sister! All the great power couples denied it at first,\u201d comedian Michelle Thomas wrote<\/a> in response.<\/p>\n

Ellie clapped right back, quoting Lauryn Hill\u2019s song, \u201cEx-Factor.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBabes \u2026 When you find a picture of ME wrapped up, tied up, tangled up with anybody like exhibit A ^ then HOLLA at ya girl,\u201d she wrote<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Liberty
\n Ellie the Elephant Caleb Bowlin\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Regardless of her dating status, Ellie has the support of her Liberty teammates. Her rise to become one of the most popular mascots in sports came alongside the franchise\u2019s reinvention. She joined the team in 2021, one year after the Liberty drafted Sabrina Ionescu<\/a> No. 1 overall, and two years before the franchise signed former MVPs Breanna Stewart<\/a> and Jonquel Jones.<\/p>\n

As the Liberty started winning, going from the worst team in the league to WNBA champions, Ellie\u2019s show-stopping performances began spreading beyond the team\u2019s home arena in Brooklyn. Her dance moves, outfits and tunnel walks have been featured everywhere from ESPN to The New York Times, likely making her the most famous twerking elephant in the world, though Us was unable to confirm that.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\"Celebrities
\n\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t
\n Related: Celebrities at the WNBA Finals 2024: Spike Lee, Aubrey Plaza and More<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tRodin Eckenroth\/Getty Images; Jamie McCarthy\/Getty Images It\u2019s not an exaggeration to say Game 1 of the 2024 WNBA Finals between the New York Liberty and Minnesota Lynx was one of the greatest Finals games of all time. Between a monumental comeback by the Lynx, an improbable four-point play, one big missed free throw and an [\u2026]\t\t<\/p>\n

Stewart, 31, gushed about the iconic mascot in a 2024 interview with SportsCenter.<\/p>\n

\u201cEllie is a vibe and everybody knows that,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd if you don\u2019t know Ellie, you gotta just look her up.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\"\"
\n\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\tThank You!<\/p>\n

You have successfully subscribed.<\/p>\n

Ionescu, 28, even released her Nike Sabrina 2 \u201cBy Big Ellie\u201d sneakers in September 2024, complete with seafoam green elephant print on the sides.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe just gets the crowd going,\u201d Ionescu, 28, told The IX<\/a>. \u201cThe crowd is talking about Ellie. Even on away games I hear the crowd be like \u2018I just want to meet Ellie,\u2019 and that\u2019s just crazy. It\u2019s a mascot but it\u2019s a part of our team. People are excited when they hear her song come on. She\u2019s dancing. She\u2019s singing, she\u2019s twisting her tail, she\u2019s doing all this stuff. But to be able to see her come down and do like tunnel fit walks and just do everything. I mean, she\u2019s more than a mascot. She\u2019s a part of this team.\u201d<\/p>\n

Perhaps not coincidentally, the Liberty won their first WNBA championship in franchise history a month after the shoes came out.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Good news, boys and bulls. Ellie the Elephant is single. The New York Liberty mascot shot down rumors…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":793733,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[107553,99,434],"class_list":["post-793732","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wnba","tag-love-lives","tag-sports","tag-wnba"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/793732","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=793732"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/793732\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/793733"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=793732"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=793732"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=793732"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}