2023 New York Liberty season

The 2023 New York Liberty season was the 27th season for the New York Liberty franchise of the WNBA, and their second season under head coach Sandy Brondello.

The Liberty entered the season with high expectations after trading for former MVP Jonquel Jones and signing last year's MVP Breanna Stewart as a free agent. They also signed Courtney Vandersloot, who lead the league in assists for six of the past seven seasons.^[1] The team started with an opening day hiccup as they lost to Washington, but would come back to win the rest of their May games to finish the month 3–1. They would start June splitting a back-to-back with Chicago, before winning two of their next three games. They would win four straight before losing the final game of the month to finish June 7–3. The Liberty started July with another four-game winning streak, only for it to be broken at home by Dallas. The Liberty went on another four-game winning streak before losing a make-up game to Minnesota. They would win the final game of the month to finish 9–2 in July. The team managed to extend the winning streak past four this time, as they won five straight to open August. During this streak, they secured a playoff berth on August 11. In their sixth game of the month, they defeated the Las Vegas Aces to win the Commissioner's Cup, which was the first trophy in franchise history.^[2] The Liberty's next regular season game was again against the Aces, and they would lose to end their winning streak. They won their remaining four games in August to finish the month 9–1. They won their first four games in September, and headed into the final game of the season to clinch the best record in the WNBA, but lost the season finale to finish 4–1 in September.

The Liberty finished the regular season 32–8 overall and were the second seed in the 2023 WNBA Playoffs. Their 32 wins were the most in the regular season in team history, bettering the 23 wins from 2015. However, this was the first season the WNBA played a 40-game schedule. Their winning percentage of .800 was the best in franchise history, bettering the .676 mark, also from 2015.

As the second seed in the playoffs, New York faced off against the seventh seeded Washington Mystics, and New York hosted the first two games of the three-game series. The Mystics got off to a hot start in Game One, but the Liberty dominated the final three quarters and won the game 90–75. The Liberty lead Game Two by eleven at the half, but the Mystics stormed back and forced overtime. The Liberty won the overtime period and the game 90–86 to move on to the Semifinals. There, they faced off against the third seed Connecticut Sun. The Liberty lost Game One of the series 63–78. They responded in Game Two and overcame a first quarter deficit to win 84–77. In the pivotal Game Three in Connecticut, the Liberty rode a dominant first quarter to a 92–81 victory to advance to the 2023 WNBA Finals.

The Liberty faced a familiar foe in the finals, the Las Vegas Aces. The two teams squared off five times during the regular season, with the series finishing 2–2, but the Liberty taking the Commissioner's Cup. Game One of the series, was led by the Liberty by three at halftime, but the Aces dominated the second half to win 99–82. The Aces won Game Two 104–76 and left the Liberty needing to win three straight games to become WNBA Champions. The Liberty mounted a comeback in Game Three in New York and won 87–73. Game Four started well for the Liberty, they won the first quarter by ten points, but they could not hold on and lost the game 69–70. They lost the Finals one game to three, and finished runners-up.

After the season, the Liberty were fined $25,000 while Sabrina Ionescu, Betnijah Laney, and Jonquel Jones were each fined $2,000 for violating media policies.