Thanks for playing, everybody. Breanna Stewart wins COLDEST photo of the day.
Breanna Stewart had the time of her life at the Liberty’s championship parade, and one photo showed her journey, which, despite a tough WNBA Finals, was all worth it.
No one had a better time celebrating New York’s first championship than Stewie. Her wife kicked things off early with a hysterical custom parade shirt of Stewie smiling while holding an enormous wine glass. Then, Stewie tweeted that someone should bring her a bottle of wine for the parade, and guess what? SOMEONE BROUGHT STEWIE THE WINE.
As excellent as that sequence of events is, nothing tops a mid-celebration photo that Stewie shared on her social media. In an unbelievably spectacular image from the parade, Stewie is on a float, smoking a victory cigar and holding a glass of red wine while sitting beside the Liberty’s championship trophy. COLDDDDD. 10/10 content. No notes.
The NY Liberty parade featured Breanna Stewart asking for a bottle of wine on Twitter and a fan delivered.
Breanna Stewart made her intentions clear on X (formerly Twitter) during the New York Liberty parade in the Canyon of Heroes in downtown Manhattan: “Who can hand a bottle of red wine to me when my float passes by??”
Clearly someone listened. Because as cameras caught all the fun of the WNBA champions enjoying themselves on Thursday, they found Stewie walking along with the crowd and suddenly coming upon a fan who handed her something in a paper bag. Stewart looked very happy and appreciative, and we think that was the red wine she asked for.
Watch this and see if you agree:
Who can hand a bottle of red wine to me when my float passes by?? 🍷🤣
Sabrina Ionescu wore a sick custom Nike championship jacket to the Liberty’s parade, and it was awesome.
The New York Liberty held its championship parade Thursday for thousands of fans to celebrate the city’s first WNBA title. As you might suspect, there was plenty of celebrating to do after a thrilling five-game series with Minnesota that took New York down to the wire.
When something like that happens, you gotta celebrate big. And if you’re Sabrina Ionescu, that means stunting in a custom jacket at the victory parade. Sab rolled through New York in a SWEET black, white and seafoam look, complete with the records it took to beat the Dream, Aces and Lynx, her logo, and several phrases like “Liberty has a nice ring to it.”
Breanna Stewart‘s wife, Marta Xargay, wore an epic shirt with Stewie’s face on it to the Liberty’s championship parade, and we could not stop laughing.
First, let us say that when you win a championship, there are no rules at the parade. YOU DO WHAT YOU WANT. That includes drinking at wildly early times of the day. For Breanna Stewart, that meant wine before noon, and her wife, Marta — another basketball champ —was totally here for her shenanigans.
Ahead of Thursday’s Liberty championship parade, Stewie shared a photo of the whole family patiently waiting for the festivities to start. It seemed harmless until we realized Marta was wearing a shirt with a picture of Stewie smiling while holding a GIANT wine glass.
The New York Liberty are on a fantastic media victory tour after winning its first franchise title, and nothing would stop the team from crashing The Tonight Show and dancing with Megan Thee Stallion to celebrate even more.
In case you missed it, the Liberty have been on a sweet press run this week. There’s no chance that anybody slept before appearing on Good Morning America to talk to Liberty fan and longtime anchor Robin Roberts. Then, the team headed to the New York Stock Exchange to ring the bell, signaling that the day was open for trading.
They also crashed The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallonon Wednesday. They stuck around to take a selfie with the audience, which looked terrific. Here’s a video of that moment:
As if that wasn’t enough, Megan Thee Stallion was also a guest on the show the same day, and they found time to chop it up with her.
The Liberty gifted Meg a jersey, took photos and made a dope video doing her viral TikTok Mamushi Dance. (Warning: NSFW language)
Admittedly, I could never smoke a cigar. These poor baby lungs of mine would never let me do it. So, whenever I see someone smoking a stogie, I’m always so jealous of them — especially one smoked after a huge victory. That seems like the best, right?
It all sounds good until I realized I would probably end up like poor Sandy Brondello, who tried so hard — and seemingly failed — to light up after the Liberty secured its first championship. In a new video, Brondello excitedly attempts to take a puff of a cigar lit multiple times, but she coughs horribly after each puff, and I just want to hug her.
A New York Liberty championship doesn’t happen without Nyara Sabally.
The New York Liberty would not have a championship without Nyara Sabally’s contributions, and I’m not even being dramatic.
A lot of what happens in the WNBA Finals is all about adjustments. It’s the unspoken thing that doesn’t get enough credit. For example, when Chelsey Gray and Kiah Stokes suffered injuries during the 2023 Finals, Becky Hammon threw out a starting lineup with few minutes together and a defensive scheme that neither the Aces nor Liberty had ever seen — and it worked. Another unspoken series-changing adjustment happened during Sunday’s Game 5, and it came with massive implications and a ring.
With their backs against the wall, Sandy Brondello went to her bench, throwing in Nyara Sabally. Before Sunday, Sabally averaged only nine minutes and three points per game during the Finals. However, her buckets were always timely leading up to the penultimate title game, and when the pressure was on, the 6-foot-5 center was DYNAMITE.
Don’t mind me,
just rewatching how Nyara Sabally brought the spark that led to the Liberty’s first championship EVER#LightItUpNYL#SEAFOAMSZN#WNBA
Cheryl Reeve might think differently, but this was a coaching masterclass move by Sandy Brondello. Sometimes, you must do unconventional yet calculated things for a chance at postseason glory.
We aren’t talking about a Liberty championship without Brondello’s adjustment and Sabally’s unshakeable confidence on the league’s highest stage. Let’s give NYara — See what I did there? — her rightful flowers as the series’ unsung hero.
Whole arena chanting Sabally 🥹 so proud of my baby sis, she’s been through so much and deserves THE WORLDDDDDDD @nyarasabally
Good morning, Winners! Welcome back to the Morning Win. Thank you so much for rocking with us today. We appreciate your time.
Your New York Liberty are WNBA champions for the first time in the franchise’s 28 years of existence, folks. The team finally reached the pinnacle of the sport.
Breanna Stewart is a champion for the third time in her WNBA career. Jonquel Jones and Sabrina Ionescu both just won their first. JJ came away with the Finals MVP — rightfully so. She was the Liberty’s best player throughout this series that’d been filled with twists and turns for both sides through all five games.
Both teams played excellent ball all the way through. It was legitimately some of the most entertaining (though not the prettiest!) basketball I’ve seen.
That’s why it’s such a shame that the biggest story coming out of Game 5 was the officiating.
Now, look. Before I say anything else, there’s no debating that this championship was hard-earned by the Liberty. There’s no taking that from them and that’s not something I’d ever try to do.
The missed travel and foul call on the Liberty’s final offensive possession of regulation is at the center of the conversation. Alanna Smith being called for a foul here is particularly egregious, considering the physical tone set throughout the rest of the game.
This very clearly impacted the game. Had that final possession been officiated correctly, we’re probably talking about a different result here. And this isn’t a Game 1 or Game 2 we’re talking about here — it’s a Game 5. This was the pinnacle. The season was in the balance. When that’s the case, you always want the finish to be determined by the players.
Unfortunately, that’s just not what happened here. And that’s what’s driving the conversation today instead of how awesome the series was.
It doesn’t take away the Liberty’s championship — nothing can ever do that. Nobody should try. There’s no such thing as an asterisk next to a ring, folks.
But, as a neutral observer, seeing an awesome season end like that was more than a bit disappointing.
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Yet, I’m pretty sure it’s accurate. I don’t have the stats to back that up, but I’ve never met a Cowboys fan who wasn’t also a Yankees fan. And I’ve never met a Dodgers fan who cared enough about football in Los Angeles.
Ok. Enough roasting the ‘Boys. Let’s talk about this awesome World Series we’re about to get.
You rarely get the two best players in a league going head-to-head in a championship clash. It’s hard to make that happen. Think about all the times we missed a Kobe Bryant vs. LeBron James NBA Finals.
We’re getting Shohei Ohtani vs. Aaron Judge, folks. And, hopefully, it’s everything we think it’ll be.
The stakes are high here for both sides.
— This is Ohtani’s very first playoff experience and he and the Dodgers have gone back to the World Series for the first time since winning it in 2020.
This is where we all thought we’d end up. These two teams have been the best in baseball for the entire season. Their battling for supremacy in the end feels right.
New York football stinks
. Mandatory Credit: Robert Deutsch-Imagn Images
Good thing the Liberty won a championship on Sunday because, otherwise, the Giants and Jets might still be getting roasted today.
The Giants only had 119 yards in total on Sunday when the Eagles came to New York. Saquon Barkley finished the game with 176 yards rushing and two touchdowns. Saquon Barkley > The New York Giants. That’s the guy they let walk out the door.
On the other hand, the Jets traded for Davante Adams last week. But, as it turns out, Davante Adams doesn’t play defense. So Russell Wilson and the Steelers hung up 37 points on New York after it traded for a receiver that was supposed to fix everything.
Courtney Williams didn’t have her best performance during Game 5 of the WNBA Finals, and the New York Liberty made sure she knew it after they won a championship.
During a halftime interview of Game 4 in Minneapolis Friday, Courtney, who was having a stellar game, told Holly Rowe that she was in her bag. Williams hilariously explained, “I’m in a Birkin right now. So, I gotta make sure I don’t drop down to like a Target bag. I gotta stay in my Birkin.”
Unfortunately, she DID NOT stay in her Birkin on Sunday when the series shifted back to Brooklyn. Williams had just four points and shot 14 percent from the field. Postgame, someone masterfully left a bag with “Birkin” written on it and a Target bag on the Liberty’s midcourt logo.
Former Notre Dame guard [autotag]Kayla McBride[/autotag] had her best chance to win a championship yet this season. Her Minnesota Lynx had a 30-10 regular-season record and took the New York Liberty, the only team with a better record, to a winner-take-all Game 5 of the WNBA Finals.
McBride did everything she could, scoring 21 points, the second-most on the Lynx. She also grabbed five rebounds, had a team-high five assists and a game-high four steals.
It was not enough though as the Liberty won their first WNBA championship with a 67-62 overtime victory. The Lynx remain in a three-way tie for the most WNBA titles with four.
McBride is used to just coming up short by now. She made the finals with the Las Vegas Aces in 2020, but the Seattle Storm, one of the other two teams with four championships, swept that series. She went to three national title games with the Irish in the 2010s but lost every single time.
It’s a classic example of always being the bridesmaid but never the bride. Let’s hope that McBride, who turns 33 next season, can become the bride before too long.
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