Elephant (she/her) and Torch (he/him) started going to Liberty games in 2025 and have been doing the Ellie Wave ever since. Torch is a Sabrina Ionescu loyalist with a box-score brain. Elephant rides for the starters every game but loses it when Han Xu checks in. From the corner of Atlantic and Flatbush, we write about seafoam dreams and New York Liberty basketball.
West Indian Night announced itself before we had fully entered Barclays. No one is paying attention to the ticket reader (psa: adjust the brightness on your phone and have the tickets ready) because just beyond the scanners, everyone was dazzled by Carnival mas.
At the entrance, Moko Jumbies towered above us on stilts. The tradition has West African roots and a long history across Caribbean Carnival. Here, they were part of an afternoon that threaded Caribbean diaspora culture throughout the building.
Around us, people wave and smiled up at the Moko Jumbies. Some fans ignored them altogether, which was baffling and funny, although let us not underestimate the difficult of rounding up children and awed adults when there are people dancing several feet above their heads.
DivaDance Brooklyn took over the court for a special pregame performance with what looked like 100 or so dancers. Most DivaDance classes are designed for beginners (it’s a franchise with 50+ studios), which made the sheer number of people filling the entire floor, exuding Liberty-level confidence, particularly joyful.
In the tunnel before warmups, Liberty players formed a loose circle around dancer who got down in the middle. None of the Liberty necessarily got down with her (that we could see), but there was flair to the start of an afternoon that would eventually become a blowout.
Granted, the Liberty had a slow, tense start.
Two nights earlier, Liberty were flattened to 60 points by Natalie Nakase’s Valkyries. We had fallen to eighth, and Minnesota was waiting on the other side of the World Cup break.
But then, the Liberty opened up, and the Sky closed.
By halftime it was 42-28. Natasha Cloud’s speed made us miss her on our side and, alongside Courtney Vandersloot, another former Liberty guard, she gave Sky enough organization and edge to keep the afternoon suspenseful.
The Liberty was all about defense. Leonie Fiebich was back applying pressure at the point of attack. Pauline Astier did the same. Rebekah Gardner came in as the first sub and immediately closed space. Defense was the game, offense was secondary.
Now we come to Han Xu. Firstly, I’m a Han Xu fan. Disclose the bias and proceed accordingly.
But hell yeah, JJ in foul trouble? Ionescu struggling? Give it to Han!
This was the entire offensive system proposed by an enthusiastic, human megaphone one section over, who yelled “Give it to Han!” on every Liberty possession, whenever Han Xu was on the floor. No matter how grating or too much that was, Han Xu was so good that it was impossible not to enjoy.
Because, yeah. Give it to Han.
She led all scorers, scored more points than minutes played, and she posted and toasted the Sky. Coach called her “an X-factor.”
We’ve been saying it all along.
Let’s be real though: Liberty can survive 0-for-10 against 15-25 Sky team. They cannot assume the same margin for error against anyone near the top of the playoff bracket. And certainly not the Lynx.
But that’s for after the break.
For now, given Torch’s hot take last week on Shake Shack free-throw burgers – Chicago hit their free throws – let us now pivot to food.
During the first timeout, Jonquel Jones, who grew up in Freeport, Bahamas, ranked her favorite Caribbean foods on the jumbotron. Curry goat was #1. Oxtail was #2.
Torch and I were initially wounded by the oxtail placement, but curry goat is a completely defensible No. 1 seed and JJ herself seemed torn. We immediately flashed to reminiscences of Fisherman’s Cove restaurants in Brooklyn and mourned their passing.
Ellie, it must be said, looks fabulous in mas.
On the jumbotron, a kid bashfully held up a sign that all he wished for his birthday was to dance with Ellie on his ninth birthday. He got his wish and it was jumbotronned to the delight of everyone with a heart.
It was the fourth quarter, with our comfortable lead and emptied bench, when Barclays generosity kept giving: more Han, deep-bench, birthday magic, West Indian pride. Everybody got a little something.
Han Xu scored a WNBA career-high 19 points in this game, surpassing her previous high of 17 against the Mercury on August 1. What a month she is having! One unassisted layup and five free throws accounted for seven points. Rebekah Gardner set up two more, while Leonie Fiebich and Rebecca Allen each set up five. 12 of Han’s 19 points came from her teammates.
It was nice to have Natasha Cloud back at Barclays, but seeing her on the other team came with a bit of sadness. From a points standpoint she seems to be doing well in Chicago, averaging 11.4 points per game compared with 10.1 in New York last season.
Did you know Cloud was not traded? Her Liberty contract expired after the 2025 season, and she entered free agency before signing with Chicago.
These salary figures become more interesting through the lens of last year’s pay. In 2025, Stewart earned $222,400 and Cloud earned $200,000, a difference of $22,400.
In 2026, Cloud is listed at $555,000, while her former Liberty teammates Stewart, Ionescu, and Jones are each listed at $1.19 million. Cloud is now making $635,000 less than her old teammates while last year she was only making $22,400 less.
Taxes change this somewhat, considering Chicago may have a lower tax rate. Assuming the Liberty players live in New York City, their take home pay for Stewie/Sabrina/Jonquel may be $592,000 compared to Cloud’s estimated take home of $350,000. This works out to her making $242,000 less, which is a smaller figure than a $635,000 pay gap. These numbers are all estimates.
My question in all this is … was a decision made somewhere that Natasha Cloud was not worth an additional $1,190,000 and that renewal of her contract would put the Liberty out of budget for other players? And so relinquishing the Natasha Cloud contract the Liberty were able to freely sign four players at $250,000 each and that may have been the greater move for the team? The game that is being played of making these salary decisions is its own sport!
Talking about change in pay … seems the savings accrued from the removal of the Apple Pie empanadas has in some way freed up budget and financing for a new Cesar’s Empanadas truck with a newer menu (Apple Pie is removed all together) and a new Guava w/ Potato and Cheese was on the menu but not available yet in the truck. There is plenty of empty space on the menu, I suspect because the return of Apple Pie will eventually happen and the room has already been allocated for where it will be taped on and written in with marker.
On a late summer Saturday when the city left for the beach, everybody else was at Barclays Center.
Atlantic and Flatbush were loud. The plaza, before tip-off, held two competing demonstrations. Inside, the factions were more straightforward.
The sold out arena at capacity (17, 581) was a sea of seafoam disrupted by Fever people, usually in pairs – lots of Clarks and Cunninghams.
This is a playoff run, this is the heart of the zeitgeist, this is Liberty’s house and, while everyone should be welcome, some must be losers.
So long, Fever people, we’re glad it was you.
Liberty needed this. The Fever won the last two games against Liberty by 20 and 14 points. The win split the season series, and the Liberty are now within a game of Indiana.
And to cross the toll bridge to the playoffs, you have to pay the FIEBICH.
The postgame chorus was unanimous. Coach said Fiebich “unlocks a lot of stuff.” Jones credited Fiebich with setting the defensive tone and doing everything at a high level. She guards up and down the lineup. She is the connective tissue with a three-point shot.
It felt as though one out of every three people cheered for Fiebich during warmups. At halftime, after the DJ and the Lil Torches, Fiebich came onto the court to practice her 3 point shot. It was a magic few minutes in Barclays outside of gameplay. She worked her way around the arc, a step at a time, making a full half-circle of threes in one direction and then the other. Our eyes watered trying to keep count. When she finally missed, we sighed and relief came over us. She is human after all.
In her first three-point attempt of the third quarter, she missed at 8:17.
Then, 27 seconds later, she got the three.
57 seconds after that, another.
Gold coins rained down from the rafters on the Liberty in feats of premium-grade togetherness as all nine players who entered the game, scored.
The sentiment was mental fortitude, toughness, tenacity. Fiebich was typically stoic until the 1:42 was left in the third. She powered an and-1 and yelled into the crowd, flexed, and put the Liberty over by 9 points.
Barclays lost its shit and we won.
Meanwhile, Ellie was fire, precision, high-energy entertainment. And in keeping with the evening’s theme, Grammy-winning R&B singer Durand Bernarr (who performed with Kehlani at Barclays the night before) joined Ellie for a glorious dance duet disguised as a dance-off. Their chemistry, like the Liberty, looked effortless.
It was the kind of game that turned screaming fans into jellyfish, flouncing up with flailing arms in every direction, bending over backwards to warn everyone behind that yes, this will happen throughout the game and sorry sorry sorry for raising the roof so often, but this is freakin’ incredible, isn’t it?
Fever finished 11 for 22 at the line and missed four free throws in the fourth quarter. For free Shake Shack burgers, Fever only had to miss two. We got our burgers. The Liberty got a 109-102 win. Feed a cold, starve the fever.
Leonie Fiebich is back! She’s been gone for 7 weeks, 16 games and for the Fever game, she was supposed to play restricted minutes. Fiebich played 33 minutes, 51 seconds and finished with 20 points, five rebounds and five assists.
In the end, Indiana FG 57.1% and, with that, they usually win. However, Liberty shot FG 57.8 percent. Both teams made 11 threes. The three Fever stars lit it up: Kelsey Mitchell with 25, Aliyah Boston with 22 points and 6 assists, and Caitlin Clark finished with 21 and 7. And they only turned over 8 times (Liberty turned over 14). However the Fever broke at the free-throw line at 11 for 22.
This was a great game, 6 lead changes, never exceeding five points differential. It was fun! Queen Latifah was there!
Everyone contributed: Jonquel with 17 points and seven rebounds by halftime, finishing with 19 points, 10 rebound double-double. Breanna Stewart dominated with 22 points, eight rebounds and seven assists. Han Xu scored 9 points in 11 minutes. Rebecca Allen made 3 threes. Sabrina seemed to be magnetic with the Fever putting all their energy on her to force 5 turnovers. New York was plus-16 in Marine Johannes’ 13 minutes. Astier made 4 late free throws. All 9 Liberty players who entered, scored.
Indiana started coming back. Kelsey Mitchell buried a 3 with 1:44 remaining that made it 100-100. Stewie hit a freethrow, Fiebich drove for two and-1, missed the bonus, grabbed her own rebound. Clark missed. Fiebich rebounded. Astier made two at the line. Clark missed again. Stewart finished the job.
The ShackBurger contains 12 grams of saturated fat and 1,250 mg of sodium. That works out to 60% and 54% of the daily value! Fans can redeem it only after the visiting team misses two consecutive free throws, and only with another purchase. The required add-on (especially if it’s a Loaded Chocolate Cookies & Cream shake) is not going to improve the nutritional math.
This promotion started at 2024 and it seems this promotion has actually made the visiting team better at their Free Throws! In 2024 the free throw miss rate by visiting teams was 33% when this promotion was not live. Now that the promotion is live, 2025 was 24% and 2026 is at 20%. The introduction of this promotion has actually made the visiting team miss less of their free throws! They were missing more free throws when the promotion wasn’t there and the Liberty fans weren’t offered 2 million calories (estimated with a 10% redemption rate of total crowd 17,000 = 1,700 * [500 calories for the burger + 500 calories for the drink + 500 calories for the fries]) as a reward.*
This all goes to say, this promotion should be abandoned for health reasons (unnecessary promotion of 50%+ daily value consumption in one burger), financial (Shake Shack is probably not making the cost of promotion back in direct sales), and for the game (visiting teams to Barclays missed more free throws before this promotion).
I don’t know what the empanadas nutritional numbers are, but to satiate my desire for Apple Pie I have decided to try out Rice & Beans and Beans empanadas and the winner is seemingly the Beans empanadas.
* These figures are descriptive and intended for illustration and entertainment only. They show an association, not causation; differences across seasons may reflect changes in teams, players, game context, and sample size.
We witnessed the Liberty having their Sunday brunch, care of WNBA scheduling.
Las Vegas had tipped off in Minnesota on Saturday afternoon. New York tipped at 12:30 Sunday. That’s 23½ hours between scheduled starts, plus a flight from Minneapolis to New York. A’ja Wilson, Chelsea Gray and Jackie Young had played 33, 36 and 33 minutes the day before. Becky Hammon gave all three the afternoon off at Barclays. The Aces were also completing a five-game, nine-day road trip. Sometimes the schedule hands you brunch.
It was Legends Weekend, and upon our early arrival a youth game was underway, with DJ Ria somehow doing color, play-by-play and refereeing all at once. The vibes were ’90s and the Liberty were in their Court Origins uniforms (their 2026 reworking of the 1997 debut look). Maddie the dog was there, too: the old MSG dog, a hyped-up, sponge-textured friend with a springy tail. Then Maddie went bouncing across the center-court LIBERTY, reviving an old Garden tradition. It’s old school and confusing… particularly in Ellie’s absence.
We loved seeing Liberty veterans from the Garden years in the Brooklyn home. Their recognition needed some polish. The in-arena legends roll call on the center-hung scoreboard got the names wrong. The legends and the crowd noticed. It was mortifying and, on a weekend built around honoring them, they deserved better.
As basketball, the Liberty’s 111-71 win was thrilling. New York led 24-15 after one, 50-39 at halftime and 74-51 after three, then let an all-bench group drop 34 points in the fourth quarter (Rebecca Allen score 3 more, for 37 points in the last quarter). The 40-point margin was the third-largest victory in franchise history and the largest the Liberty have ever hung on the Aces. The bench scored 58, also the third-highest total in franchise history.
To start: Jonquel Jones was all muscle (and a little brute force, going 3-for-6 from three). She finished with 15 points and eight boards in 19 minutes. Breanna Stewart put up 14 points, four rebounds and four assists in 23. Sabrina Ionescu took no prisoners in disposition but her jumper was off, shooting five points on 2-for-10.
The starters raised the bar. The bench were out to prove something. The Liberty shot 53.3 percent from the floor, 43.8 percent from three and outrebounded Vegas 45-24. Johannès finished with a career-high 27 points in 22 minutes, going 9-for-14 from the field and 7-for-12 from three. Twelve of those points came in the fourth quarter. Han Xu had 14 points and five rebounds in 17:28 minutes (and a block). Rebekah Gardner had 11 and seven. Marine Fauthoux handed out nine assists in 22 minutes. By then some Liberty fans had begun politely applauding the Aces’ better attempts, either in appreciation of basketball or mercy.
For the Aces, Hammon got a fitting pop as a Liberty legend herself. And the Aces gave Barclays something to watch. Ta’Niya Latson scored 20 in 24 minutes. Justine Pissott had 11. Most impressive to us was 5-foot-5 guard Mai Yamamoto, who came off the bench for 16 points, six assists and four threes in 26 minutes. However, the score really says it all.
In the midst of all this, it’s necessary to mention that were murmurings near the end of the first quarter:
Where was Ellie?
Ellie was nowhere to be found in the first, her usual crowd work and twerking mischief conspicuously absent, the floor instead belonging to an enthusiastic Maddie of old. For a mascot whose defining characteristic is making herself impossible to ignore, Ellie’s absence was strange. Eventually she emerged, quietly and gracefully, among the Legends.
Then, during Monifah’s halftime performance, there she was: Ellie in a T-Spoon jersey, Maddie in a Lobo jersey. The generational interaction between mascots had its charms and its awkwardness. In the Big Ellie number, the handstand-split-and-clap was a little lopsided, but the whole performance felt especially energetic.
That was the afternoon, really: old and new, stars and reserves, Maddie and Ellie, a little awkward and extremely lopsided, and more entertaining than a 40-point game had any right to be.
The of-course-its-the-stat-of-the-game stat of the game is the +40 point win New York Liberty 111, Las Vegas Aces 71. Just wow.
Was this somehow related to the back-to-back game that was played? At first I thought yes … but looking at the history I would say no.
May 9 (Day 1): Vegas loses 66 to Phoenix 99
May 10 (Day 2): Vegas wins 105 to LA 78
They started the season out strong doing the exact opposite of “tired team” after losing by 33 on Day 1, Vegas came back the next day and won by 27.
July 11 (Day 1): Vegas wins 106 to Phoenix 58
July 12 (Day 2): Vegas loses 75 to Fever 109
This one was even stranger. Vegas won Day 1 by 48 points, then turned around and lost Day 2 by 34. Win by 48 one day and lose by 34 the next! What a whirlwind!
August 8 (Day 1): Vegas loses 87 to Minnesota 98
August 9 (Day 2): Vegas loses 71 to Liberty 111
So now Vegas lost both on a back to back. Vegas came to New York having won last two of three.
From just these stats its hard to say if there is a pattern that can be attributed to the back to back game. There is too much chaos to draw a conclusion. I am going to point to A’ja Wilson, Chelsea Gray and Jackie Young who were out for rest and of course the performance of our New York Liberty who did well.
The spotlight player of the game is Mai Yamamoto who because of the big players being out took advantage and scored career high 16 points, 6 assists, 1 rebound, 1 steal, 6-for-11 shooting, 4-for-8 from three. Did you know she played against Aces in a exhibition game and scored 24 against the Aces when she was on the visiting Japan National Team?
“If your best player is small, you’re not winning” and Mai’s 16 was the second leading score after Latson’s 20 and the Vegas Aces … did not win the game.
At Cesar’s Empanadas near Barclays Center we had Pizza and Guava with Cheese empanadas. I inquired about the removal of Apple Pie at Cesar’s Empanadas and was told that for cost reasons it has been cut which can only mean we as customers of Cesar’s Empanadas did not purchase enough Apple empanadas to keep the Apple empanadas in production. If anyone from Apple Downtown Brooklyn Store is reading this you should sponsor the Apple Pie at Cesar’s Empanadas and bring it back please and thank you.
