Editing New York Liberty (section)

=== The Tsai era (2019–present) ===
[[File:Joe Tsai and Clara Wu Tsai at the 2024 NY Liberty Ticker Tape Parade.jpg|left|thumb|Joseph Tsai and Clara Wu Tsai at the New York Liberty's 2024 Ticker Tape Parade.]]
On January 23, 2019, the Liberty were sold to Joseph Tsai, co-founder of the Alibaba Group, a Chinese internet company, who then owned 49% of the NBA's [[Brooklyn Nets]],<ref>{{cite news |last=Draper |first=Kevin |date=23 January 2019 |title=Joe Tsai Makes Purchase of the Liberty Official |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/23/sports/basketball/joe-tsai-liberty-wnba.html |access-date=January 23, 2019}}</ref> and [[Clara Wu Tsai]], an American businesswoman and founder of [[nonprofit organization]] [[Reform Alliance (United States)|Reform Alliance]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Negley |first=Cassandra |date=2023-02-09 |title=Liberty co-owner Clara Wu Tsai believes charter flights 'enough of a topic' within WNBA that commissioner will address it |url=https://sports.yahoo.com/liberty-co-owner-clara-wu-tsai-believes-charter-flights-enough-of-a-topic-within-wnba-that-commissioner-will-address-it-161518805.html |access-date=2023-10-05 |website=Yahoo Sports |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Streeter |first=Kurt |date=2023-05-17 |title=The Liberty Took a Few Jets and a Boat to Become a Superteam |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/17/sports/basketball/wnba-liberty-joe-clara-wu-tsai.html |access-date=2023-10-05 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Isiah Thomas was relieved of his duties a month later, on February 21, 2019.<ref>{{cite web |last=Kussoy |first=Howie |title=Isiah Thomas is no longer running the Liberty |url=https://nypost.com/2019/02/21/isiah-thomas-is-no-longer-running-the-liberty/ |website=New York Post |date=22 February 2019 |access-date=8 February 2023}}</ref> During the 2019 season, the Liberty played two games in Brooklyn at the Nets' home of the [[Barclays Center]], with the rest still in White Plains. Later that year, Joseph Tsai became the sole owner of the Nets and the Barclays Center.<ref>{{cite press release|url=https://www.nba.com/article/2019/09/18/nba-approves-nets-sale-joe-tsai-david-levy-ceo |title=NBA Board of Governors approves sale of Nets to Joe Tsai |publisher=National Basketball Association |date=September 18, 2019 |access-date=September 28, 2019}}</ref> For the 2020 season, the Tsais relocated the Liberty to Brooklyn on a full-time basis.<ref>{{Cite web |date=October 17, 2019 |title=New York Liberty Announce Barclays Center as Home Venue Beginning in 2020 |url=https://www.oursportscentral.com/services/releases/new-york-liberty-announce-barclays-center-as-home-venue-beginning-in-2020/n-5562577 |access-date=July 7, 2024 |website=OurSports Central}}</ref>

The Liberty were major players in the [[2020 WNBA draft]], entering that draft with three first-round picks plus two in the early second round. Shortly before the draft, they traded former league MVP [[Tina Charles (basketball)|Tina Charles]] to the [[Washington Mystics]] in a deal that also involved the [[Dallas Wings]].<ref>{{cite web |date=April 15, 2020 |title=Liberty trade Tina Charles to Mystics in 3-team deal |url=https://www.espn.com/wnba/story/_/id/29039063 |access-date=April 16, 2020 |website=ESPN.com |agency=Associated Press}}</ref> They chose [[Sabrina Ionescu]] as the [[List of first overall WNBA draft picks|first pick]], with [[Megan Walker]] and [[Jazmine Jones]] selected later in that round.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.wnba.com/wnba-draft-2020/#/panel2-1 |title=WNBA Draft '20: Draft Board |publisher=WNBA |date=April 17, 2020 |access-date=April 18, 2020}}</ref> The team also introduced a new logo, featuring a simplified version of their [[Statue of Liberty]] branding. The color black was also made one of the primary colors, echoing the aesthetic of their NBA brother squad, the Brooklyn Nets.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Magliocchetti |first=Geoff |date=14 April 2020 |title=New York Liberty Unveil New Logo Prior to WNBA Draft |url=https://elitesportsny.com/2020/04/14/new-york-liberty-news-team-unveils-new-logo-prior-to-wnba-draft/ |access-date=6 July 2024 |website=elitesportsny.com}}</ref>

The Liberty began the 2020 season, held in a "bubble" in [[IMG Academy|Bradenton, Florida]], due to the [[COVID-19 pandemic in the United States|COVID-19 pandemic]], with seven rookies on their opening-night roster.<ref>{{cite news |last=Voepel |first=Mechelle |author-link=Michael Voepel |date=June 26, 2020 |title=New York Liberty sign seventh rookie in Joyner Holmes |url=https://www.espn.com/wnba/story/_/id/29369920 |access-date=September 18, 2020 |website=ESPN.com}}</ref> The team suffered a major blow in their third game, in which Ionescu suffered a severe ankle sprain that ultimately ended her season.<ref>{{cite news |date=August 22, 2020 |title=Liberty's Sabrina Ionescu won't need surgery on her sprained left ankle |url=https://www.espn.com/wnba/story/_/id/29716598 |access-date=September 18, 2020 |website=ESPN.com}}</ref> The Liberty ended the season with a league-worst 2–20 record. Despite the lack of wins, one of the first-year players, 12th overall pick [[Jazmine Jones]], was named to the Associated Press and WNBA's All-Rookie teams.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Magliocchetti |first=Geoff |date=15 September 2020 |title=New York Liberty's Jazmine Jones named to AP's All-Rookie team |url=https://empiresportsmedia.com/liberty/new-york-libertys-jazmine-jones-named-to-aps-all-rookie-team/ |access-date=6 July 2024 |website=empiresportsmedia.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=September 27, 2020 |title=Jazmine Jones Named to WNBA's 2020 All-Rookie Team |url=https://liberty.wnba.com/news/jazmine-jones-named-to-wnbas-2020-all-rookie-team/ |access-date=July 6, 2024 |newspaper=New York Liberty}}</ref>
[[File:Barclays Liberty.jpg|alt=2024 New York Liberty Game at the Barclays Center Arena|thumb|2024 New York Liberty Game at the Barclays Center Arena]]
The Liberty made major splashes during the 2021 offseason. Prior to its first season as full-time tenants of Barclays Center, the Liberty added WNBA champions [[Natasha Howard (basketball)|Natasha Howard]] and [[Sami Whitcomb]] in a multi-team trade that sent [[Kia Nurse]] and [[Megan Walker]] to the Phoenix Mercury <ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nydailynews.com/sports/basketball/ny-liberty-natasha-howard-sami-whitcomb-20210210-3jwzrnghnrbrjmdpraslyvkuv4-story.html|title=Liberty welcome WNBA champions Natasha Howard, Sami Whitcomb, trade Kia Nurse and Megan Walker in deals with Storm, Mercury|website=[[New York Daily News]]|date=10 February 2021 }}</ref> and signed [[Betnijah Laney]], the league's 2020 Most Improved Player Award winner.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Magliocchetti |first=Geoff |date=2 February 2021 |title=New York Liberty sign 2020 Most Improved Player Betnijah Laney |url=https://empiresportsmedia.com/liberty/new-york-liberty-sign-2020-most-improved-player-betnijah-laney/ |access-date=6 July 2024 |newspaper=Empire Sports Media}}</ref> The team then added [[Michaela Onyenwere]] and [[DiDi Richards]] in the 2021 WNBA draft. Laney would represent the Liberty at the 2021 WNBA All-Star Game while Onyenwere won the Associated Press' Rookie of the Year Award. New York finished the year with a 12–20 record but the 10-game improvement in the win column was enough to push the team into the WNBA playoffs for the first time since 2017. Seeded eighth, the Liberty put up a valiant effort against No. 5 Phoenix in the opening but fell by an 83–82 final.

On December 6, 2021, the Liberty and head coach Walt Hopkins Jr. parted ways.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Magliocchetti |first=Geoff |date=6 December 2021 |title=BREAKING: New York Liberty, Walt Hopkins part ways |url=https://empiresportsmedia.com/liberty/breaking-new-york-liberty-walt-hopkins-part-ways/ |access-date=6 July 2024 |website=empiresportsmedia.com}}</ref> The team would hire former Phoenix head coach [[Sandy Brondello]] in his place just over a month later on January 7, 2022.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Magliocchetti |first=Geoff |date=31 December 2021 |title=New York Liberty to hire Sandy Brondello as new head coach (Report) |url=https://empiresportsmedia.com/liberty/new-york-liberty-to-hire-sandy-brondello-as-new-head-coach-report/ |access-date=6 July 2024}}</ref> On the roster, the team brought in [[Stefanie Dolson]] of the defending champion Chicago Sky and drafted [[Nyara Sabally]] fifth overall, though the latter would miss her whole rookie season with an injury. In Brondello's first season at the helm, the team was forced to overcome an early injury to Laney and got off to a 1–7 start. But the All-Star efforts of Ionescu and Howard kept the team afloat and they would end the season on a three-game winning streak to secure its second consecutive playoff berth. In the ensuing postseason, the Liberty won the opening game of a best-of-three set with the Chicago Sky but dropped the latter pair. 
[[File:Liberty Pyrotechnic Display after an October 2024 WNBA Playoffs Win.jpg|alt=Pyrotechnics on display at Barclays Center during the WNBA Playoffs.|left|thumb|The New York Liberty's "Light it Up" torch is lit after an October 1, 2024 New York Liberty win against the Las Vegas Aces in the Semifinals of the 2024 WNBA Playoffs.]]
In 2023, the Liberty made several major transactions that turned them into immediate contenders: the team acquired 2021 WNBA MVP [[Jonquel Jones]] from the Connecticut Sun in a three-team deal that also obtained reserve [[Kayla Thornton]] from the Dallas Wings. The Liberty then added the equally accomplished [[Breanna Stewart]] and [[Courtney Vandersloot]] in free agency. Over the ensuing season, the Liberty won a franchise-record 32 games and defeated the Las Vegas Aces in the [[WNBA Commissioner's Cup|Commissioner's Cup]] in-season competition, with Jones securing MVP honors. The Liberty then took down the Washington Mystics and Connecticut Sun in the WNBA playoffs to earn their first WNBA Finals berth since 2002. Las Vegas, however, took revenge and the best-of-five series in four games.

New York retained most of its core from the Finals run, re-signing both Jones <ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.si.com/nba/knicks/new-york-liberty/new-york-liberty-re-sign-jonquel-jones-playoff-heroine-wnba-free-agency | title=Liberty Re-Sign WNBA Playoff Heroine Jonquel Jones | date=16 February 2024 }}</ref> and Stewart.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.si.com/nba/knicks/new-york-liberty/new-york-liberty-breanna-stewart-wnba-free-agency-below-max-deal-re-signs | title=Back in the Stew York Groove; Liberty Re-Signs Breanna Stewart on Below-Max Deal | date=26 February 2024 }}</ref> Further assisted by the emergence of WNBA rookie [[Leonie Fiebich]], the Liberty once again won 32 games, tying the franchise record set the year before. The Liberty also returned to the Commissioner's Cup final but were denied a repeat by the Minnesota Lynx.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Schlachter |first=Thomas |date=2024-06-26 |title=Minnesota Lynx win Commissioner's Cup with closely fought victory against New York Liberty |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2024/06/26/sport/minnesota-lynx-new-york-commissioners-cup-spt-intl/index.html |access-date=2024-10-22 |website=CNN |language=en}}</ref> This time around, the 32 wins were good enough to secure the top seed on the WNBA playoff bracket, which saw the Liberty sweep the eighth-ranked Atlanta Dream in two games before defeating the Aces 3–1 in the semifinals.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Pickman |first=Ben |title=An original WNBA franchise, the New York Liberty finally won a championship |url=https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5859648/2024/10/21/wnba-championship-new-york-liberty-first/ |access-date=2024-10-22 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> New York won its first WNBA Championship beating the Minnesota Lynx in the [[2024 WNBA Finals]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=New York Liberty win first WNBA championship, beating Lynx in OT |url=https://www.nba.com/news/new-york-liberty-win-wnba-finals |access-date=2024-10-22 |website=NBA.com |language=en}}</ref>