Chris DeMarco, New York Liberty’s New Coach
The New York Liberty have reached an agreement to hire Chris DeMarco, assistant coach of the Golden State Warriors, as their new head coach.
The terms of the agreement were finalized on Friday by Liberty executives and DeMarco’s agent, Brian Elfus.
DeMarco has been with the Warriors since 2012, holding various roles as assistant coach and player development coach, contributing to the conquest of four NBA titles. Since 2019, he has also been the head coach of the Bahamas men’s national basketball team.
Although DeMarco will be on the Warriors’ bench in the near future, he will join the Liberty at some point this season. The exact date is yet to be determined.
DeMarco was in charge of the Warriors’ defense and worked closely with Klay Thompson and Jordan Poole during his time on the team.
Among the other candidates considered by the Liberty were Will Weaver, former assistant of the Brooklyn Nets; Kristi Toliver, former WNBA champion and current associate coach of the Phoenix Mercury; and Jama Mahlalela, assistant of the Toronto Raptors.
The Liberty are one of the five WNBA teams that have made a head coach appointment this offseason. Predecessor Sandy Brondello’s contract expired in September.
After winning their first WNBA championship in 2024, New York seemed capable of defending the title with a 9-0 start in 2025, before injuries affected stars like Jonquel Jones, Breanna Stewart and others, and the team was eliminated from the postseason in the first round.
At the time of Brondello’s departure, Kolb said the franchise was seeking “evolution and innovation” and asking: “How do we position ourselves to be at the top of the league in a truly sustainable way as the league evolves?”
Brondello, who was with the team for four seasons, has said that she believed there wasn’t a good understanding between her and the Liberty’s management and indicated that collaboration was lacking. She was officially hired as the first coach of the Toronto Tempo earlier this month.
With most of the roster becoming free agents this offseason, pending a new collective bargaining agreement, New York only has two players under contract: veterans Leonie Fiebich and Nyara Sabally. However, Kolb said he has the “utmost confidence” that stars Stewart, Jones, and 2020 No. 1 draft pick Sabrina Ionescu will want to return to Brooklyn in 2026.
A source revealed that Ionescu contacted Warriors star Steph Curry during the recruitment process to ask about DeMarco.
