NEW YORK (AP) — New York general manager Jonathan Kolb decided to make a coaching change so the Liberty could evolve for the future and not live in the past.
“Very serious thought and consideration was made to retaining Sandy (Brondello), but ultimately we determined that evolution and innovation is what is needed at this time," Kolb said Thursday morning to a group of reporters.
The franchise announced Tuesday that Brondello's contract wouldn't be renewed for next season after the team exited in the first round of the playoffs. That came a year she led the team to the WNBA championship in 2024.
“I think it’s really important, that I emphasize that this decision was in no way punitive, nor was it reactive, but it’s instead rooted in being proactive,” Kolb said. “Nor was this decision based solely on the results of this past season. I actually think Sandy did a good job, navigating this group through uncharted waters, through injuries and a lack of availability.”
After a 9-0 start, the team struggled with injuries to star players Breanna Stewart, Jonquel Jones and Sabrina Ionescu this year. New York earned the No. 5 seed in the playoffs before losing to Phoenix in a decisive Game 3.
The players outwardly support Brondello.
“To anybody that kind of questions Sandy being here, this is a resilient group,” Stewart said after the Game 3 loss to Phoenix last week. “And she has our back and we have hers. The way that she continued to kind of deal with the cards she was dealt was incredible. It wasn’t easy for anybody but she came in every day with a positive attitude and a mindset to put us in our best positions possible and best foot forward.”
Kolb said he did talk to the players about the move, but didn't want to share the conversations he had. Kolb did site the team's offensive numbers in many categories were similar to last season, but their league rankings dropped.
“I think our organization has always taken pride in being innovative and looking forward and being future oriented and process based,” Kolb said. “For us, we not only evaluate throughout the season our own team, but we also evaluate the league and with where this league is going. We felt very confident that we need to move forward.”
For now the next step is to find a new coach. Kolb didn’t have a timetable for when he would hired a replacement. The league is potentially going into an offseason of instability with the current collective bargaining agreement running out at the end of next month.
“We want to take as long as it takes to find the right person,” he said. “Obviously we’d love for that to be on the sooner end of things, but we’re not going to rush anything. We need to nail this. Our players, if we’re going to make a bold decision like this, our players deserve to get the best and so we’ll take the time necessary.”
Kolb said he spoke with the Liberty's “Big Three” of Stewart, Jones and Ionescu and they all want to return next season.
AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball
New York Liberty head coach Sandy Brondello, left, and Natasha Cloud (9) cheer on Breanna Stewart, center, during the first half of Game 1 against the Phoenix Mercury in the first round of the WNBA basketball playoffs Sunday, Sept. 14, 2025, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Darryl Webb)
LONDON (AP) — Britain's Conservative Party, which governed the country from 2010 until it suffered its worst-ever electoral defeat two years ago, was plunged into fresh turmoil Thursday after its leader sacked the man widely seen as her greatest rival for apparently plotting to defect from the party.
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said in a video and statement on X that she sacked the party's justice spokesperson Robert Jenrick due to “irrefutable evidence that he was plotting in secret to defect" in a way that was “designed to be as damaging as possible” to the party. Badenoch also ejected Jenrick from the party's ranks in Parliament and suspended his party membership.
“The British public are tired of political psychodrama and so am I,” she said. “They saw too much of it in the last government, they’re seeing too much of it in this government. I will not repeat those mistakes.”
Though Badenoch did not specify which party Jenrick was planning to switch to, Nigel Farage, leader of the hard-right Reform UK party, said he had “of course” had conversations with him.
In the past 12 months, the Conservatives have suffered a string of defections to Reform UK, including some former Cabinet ministers.
Farage said in a press briefing in Edinburgh, the Scottish capital, that coincided with Badenoch's statement that, “hand on heart,” he wasn't about to present Jenrick as the latest Conservative to defect to Reform, an upstart, anti-immigration party.
“I’ll give him a ring this afternoon,” he said. “I might even buy him a pint, you never know.”
The Conservatives are fighting not just the Labour government to their left, but Reform UK to the right.
Reform, which only has a handful of lawmakers in the House of Commons, is tipped to make a major breakthrough in an array of elections this May, including those to the Scottish and Welsh Parliaments, at the expense of both the Conservatives and Labour.
Jenrick, who continued to attract speculation about leadership ambitions despite being beaten in 2024, has appeared more open than Badenoch to the prospect of some sort of deal between the Conservatives and Reform to unite the right in the run-up to next general election, which has to take place by 2029.
Jenrick has yet to respond to the news of his sacking.
Labour Prime Minister Keir Starmer, whose favorability ratings have fallen sharply since the general election following a series of missteps, questioned why it took Badenoch “so long” to sack Jenrick given all the speculation that he was looking to either challenge her or to defect to Reform.
Badenoch, a small-state, low-tax advocate, has shifted the Conservatives to the right, announcing policies similar to those of U.S. President Donald Trump, including a promise to deport 150,000 unauthorized immigrants a year.
Her poor poll ratings and lackluster performance in Parliament had stirred speculation that she could be ousted long before the next election.
However, she has been making a better impression in Parliament in recent weeks, particularly during her weekly questioning of Starmer, in a way that appears to have cemented her position as leader.
The party is no stranger to turmoil, having gone through six leaders in the space of 10 years, five of them serving as prime minister. Widespread anger at the way the Conservatives were governing Britain led to their defeat at the general election in July 2024, when they lost around two-thirds of their lawmakers, their worst performance since the modern party was created nearly 200 years ago.
Robert Jenrick speaking at a Reform UK press conference in Westminster, London, where it was announced the former Conservative MP has joined Reform UK, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (Jordan Pettitt/PA via AP)
Robert Jenrick with Reform UK leader Nigel Farage at a Reform UK press conference in Westminster, London, where it was announced the former Conservative MP has joined Reform UK, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (Jordan Pettitt/PA via AP)
Reform Party leader Nigel Farage addresses protesters outside the Iranian embassy, in London, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026. (Yui Mok/PA via AP)
Kemi Badenoch with Robert Jenrick before being announced as the new Conservative Party leader following the vote by party members at 8 Northumberland Avenue in central London, Nov. 3, 2024. (Stefan Rousseau/PA via AP)
