To get in, you’ll want your ID. Present it to the doorman, after which take the elevator. Flip left. There’s a white door down the corridor; in there, a digital camera crew is crammed wall-to-wall. There are portraits of former Brooklyn Nets gamers in all places, however that’s not who everyone seems to be watching proper now…
“EVERYBODY ON MUTE!”
Jonquel Jones, the charismatic New York Liberty star, belts out the lyrics to Beyoncé’s “Power,” a tune off her Renaissance album. It’s August, and we’re all inside a workroom-turned-glam room on the Nets apply facility, the place Jones, Breanna Stewart, Betnijah Laney, Sabrina Ionescu and Courtney Vandersloot—the Liberty’s beginning 5—have spent the previous hour or so getting their hair and make-up executed earlier than the large second: their first-ever SLAM cowl shoot collectively as a newly-formed squad. The power contained in the room is a bit hectic, as videographers and producers shuffle out and in, checking to see if our cowl stars are prepared.
Virtually. However for the primary of many occasions at the moment, we’ve received Beyoncé lyrics to sing. After JJ, who’s sitting proper subsequent to Sab and close to Betnijah, cues everybody to go silent (an iykyk development tied to Beyoncé’s Renaissance tour), the music continues.
“Go searching, it’s me and my crew. Large power…”
In one of many salon chairs, a hair stylist is ending curling Breanna Stewart’s lengthy, brunette locks. Sitting close by, Courtney Vandersloot is getting eyelash extensions and smiling to herself as she covers one eye, noticing the distinction. Sab is the primary one prepared for pictures, and we observe the All-Star guard throughout the corridor to the apply court docket, which has been was a set with a white seamless backdrop and tons of studio lights.
Off to the facet, there’s a desk stuffed with classic goodies—old-school digital cameras, an precise flip digital camera and a polaroid digital camera—which Sab instantly gravitates to as soon as she’s executed posing for flicks. It’s then that we find out how a lot of a lady’s woman she is, which is internet-speak for somebody who respects and values their feminine friendships. One minute Sab is hyping her teammates up, the following she’s posing Sloot for her personal photo-op second with a glass of champagne that somebody introduced on set.
This is identical Sabrina we as soon as topped the “Subsequent Queen of New York” on the duvet of SLAM 231, however who stated a queen has to rule alone? Sab got here into the W because the NCAA’s all-time chief in triple-doubles, the No. 1 general decide in 2020 and, undoubtedly, some of the standard younger gamers within the League. Then the staff signed Betnijah Laney forward of the 2021 season, and since then, pleasure has been steadily constructing in Brooklyn. Now, with Sab, Laney, JJ, Stewie and Sloot main the way in which, the New York Liberty are the No. 1 staff within the East at 32-8—the franchise’s finest regular-season file ever.
Whereas the media pushes the narrative that the WNBA has entered a “superteam period,” historical past exhibits that superteams ain’t new within the W. The Houston Comets gained the primary 4 championships within the League’s existence between ’97-2000, after which the L.A. Sparks gained back-to-back ’chips in ’01 and ’02. The next 12 months, the Detroit Shock gained their first title after which one other one in ’06. The Minnesota Lynx gained 4 titles in seven years between 2011-2017.
To name this Liberty squad a superteam makes it sound like they’re a machine that’s been programmed to dominate, somewhat than a bunch of girls who’ve come collectively and determined—each individually and collectively—that they need to be the perfect.
“I believe we’re simply tremendous people,” Sab says when requested concerning the superteam label. “I simply really feel like all of us have a narrative to inform, and we’re all at such completely different components in our careers, however once we all come collectively, that’s actually the enjoyment in being a part of a staff.”
Largest present in Brooklyn. SLAM 246 that includes the New York Liberty is out now.
The story of how this squad joined forces didn’t begin with Stewie—JJ was technically the primary to hitch the Libs when she was traded again in January—however Stewie’s free company announcement did shock the world. It was one factor for the Liberty to have a brand new celebrity in JJ, however when Stewart began posting these emoji-filled tweets, everybody, together with Kevin Durant, was hyped. One other star teaming up with JJ?! “They cookin’,” KD stated on his podcast, The ETCs. “They bringing the perfect expertise to New York.”
Then, on February 1, Stewie pulled a transfer harking back to when Yoncé dropped Lemonade: she posted solely a Statue of Liberty emoji and a video of her switching right into a teal-colored lengthy sleeve warm-up shirt. Only a day later, Courtney Vandersloot pulled her personal WNBA insider second by tweeting that she’d additionally signed with the Libs. To place in perspective simply how loopy elite a trio of Stewie, JJ and Sloot is, we’re speaking three WNBA titles, 14 All-Star appearances, seven First Workforce All-WNBA choices and three All-Defensive First Workforce choices, plus Stewie’s two Finals MVPs, common season MVP and Rookie of the 12 months title, Jonquel’s Sixth Lady of the 12 months award and Courtney Vandersloot’s place within the file books (she’s ranked second all-time in assists). They’re all undoubtedly future Corridor of Famers.
Nonetheless, it’s loopy to assume that there was a time when Stewie’s resolution nearly didn’t occur. “I used to be forwards and backwards rather a lot, actually,” Stewie tells us. “It was between Seattle and New York.
“The three of us [Sloot and JJ] had been speaking rather a lot throughout free company,” she continues. “But additionally figuring out who was on the Liberty earlier than us and that’s Sab and B ensuring that we need to come right here to win.”
Now that she’s in Brooklyn, Stewie has continued to solidify her rightful place as some of the versatile gamers to ever play the sport. She was out right here setting information on day one, actually—in her Barclays Heart debut towards the Indiana Fever, Stewie scored a franchise-record 45 factors. She’s at present averaging a career-high 23.3 factors per sport (second within the W) and as soon as once more being talked about within the MVP dialog.
On set, Stewie is poised and exudes a cool and picked up kind of confidence; she’s even rocking her personal signature sneaker, the Stewie 2s, in all of the pictures. For the following 10 minutes, the 6-4 star is simply as concerned within the artistic as she is in being the principle topic. She poses with the camcorder and asks if we’ve received a pair of sun shades she will be able to throw on, too. The lights find yourself inflicting an excessive amount of glare on the silver shades, however with just a few minutes left to get the right shot, she shines the brightest. At one level Stewie turns and stares instantly into the lens together with her blue eyes, giving us that look. Lights flash as our photographer snaps away. Pop! Stewie tilts her chin down, this time holding her gaze. Pop!
All through her seven years within the W, Stewie has executed all of it: gained championships and MVPs, been the face of the Storm alongside the legendary Sue Fowl. At this level, what fuels her to maintain taking part in at such a excessive stage?
“Mine might be perspective,” the previous UConn Husky says when requested about her supply of motivation. “Clearly loving to win and loving to compete, but in addition realizing that these moments don’t final perpetually, and having a glimpse of that by an damage. A few of us have been by accidents the place we’ve needed to be out for seasons and stuff like that. So, by no means taking something with no consideration, but in addition figuring out that I’ve Ruby at dwelling, trying as much as me [and] watching each single transfer that I do, and ensuring that I’m persevering with to assist make this staff and this League higher for her if she desires to play, but in addition the following era.”
Stewart and JJ entered the WNBA in the identical 12 months, 2016, because the No. 1 and No. 6 picks, respectively, and have performed collectively abroad on UMMC Ekaterinburg. For JJ, her transfer to New York occurred after a commerce request previous to the beginning of the 2023 season. “I didn’t know who was becoming a member of me but,” Jones says. “Once I checked out it, I used to be like, no matter who joins me, I really feel actually strong with that call.”
Now that she’s discovered her groove with the Liberty, JJ has reached one other stage: she’s had 11 double-double performances to this point and simply dominated within the Commissioner’s Cup Championship in August with 16 factors, 15 rebounds and a pair of blocks, all whereas capturing an environment friendly 50 % from the sector. She shines on set, too, cracking jokes and flashing her ever-present smile in many of the pictures we take. The staff’s PR individual asks if we would like footage of her together with her Commissioner’s Cup MVP trophy, and because the 6-6 ahead holds her newest achievement, that smile will get even wider.
“I’m very completely satisfied to be in New York and be taking part in with these women,” she says.
Sloot additionally needed to belief within the imaginative and prescient when it got here as to if she’d go away Chicago, the place she spent over a decade with the Sky and set quite a few information, or take her abilities east. At first, she admits she was hesitant. “To be frank, I used to be looking for a motive to not [leave] as a result of the transfer to New York was simply, like, by no means within the playing cards for me,” she says. “The extra it went on, the extra conversations I had in fact with these women right here, the possession and training employees and every thing, it was similar to, this is a chance that I can’t go up on. That is what I work for. That is what I dreamed [of].”
As one of many smoothest, coldest ground generals within the W over the previous decade, Sloot’s led the League in assists per sport yearly since 2017, aside from final season. Once we caught up together with her for this cowl, she had simply handed Ticha Penicheiro for second all-time in assists.
That is what I work for. That is what I dreamed [of].”
– Courtney Vandersloot
It was throughout the playoffs final season that Sloot noticed what she was in for—the power and environment in Barclays, the followers and, most notably, what sort of squad the group was constructing. “We had been the away staff, in fact, and everyone’s cheering towards us, however I nonetheless [remember] simply this power and I used to be similar to, Wow, that is superior. They’re actually constructing one thing right here…You could possibly inform they had been in a very good place, they had been on an upward…”
“…trajectory,” JJ chimes in.
“Thanks, JJ,” Sloot continues. “I simply needed to be part of it, and I do not forget that it was such a contemporary feeling for me once I was within the free company talks.”
That trajectory wouldn’t have been potential with out Betnijah and Sabrina serving to set the inspiration. B, who’s in her eighth 12 months within the W, wants no introduction, and she or he definitely didn’t have to make one to her new teammates. Drafted in 2015, only a 12 months earlier than Stewie and JJ, she performed with Stewie for USA Basketball and attended varied camps after they had been youthful. She was a rookie on the Sky when Sloot was in her fifth season and suited up alongside JJ in Connecticut in 2018.
“For me, the chemistry and every thing, it simply sort of got here naturally,” she says.
JJ felt it, too. Whereas she admits that she “didn’t know Sabrina that nicely” initially, she did attain out to her earlier than deciding to return to New York. Since becoming a member of forces, JJ’s been impressed with how nicely they’ve gotten alongside. “I’ve been so amazed with simply how nicely our personalities mesh on the staff,” she says. “That’s actually like my little sister, like we’re at all times goofing off collectively, at all times doing foolish stuff.”
Sabrina, averaged 17 factors, 5.6 boards and 5.4 dimes for the season, has dropped 30-pieces on quite a few events and practically broke the web together with her near-perfect efficiency throughout the All-Star Three-Level Contest in July. Return and watch the highlights. Discover her strategy, her type, her confidence. When she will get to the best nook, Sab smirks. It’s clear she’s having enjoyable. The gang goes insane and the digital camera pans to Sloot, who’s equally as hyped. All of us simply witnessed, in real-time, one of many League’s brightest younger stars go 25 of 27 from three and break the competition file for each the WNBA and NBA. That’s pure star energy proper there.
She wasn’t executed breaking information both. Within the Liberty’s 96-89 win over the Sparks on September 7, marking the staff’s eighth straight victory, Sab broke the WNBA single season file for whole threes (121), which was set by the GOAT Diana Taurasi in ’06.
“I’m actually proud to only watch the way in which that [Sab] has grown on this League,” JJ says. “Simply the extent that she has been taking part in at this season has been wonderful.”
Then there’s Betnijah, who exemplifies what it means to remain assured and true to who you’re, each on and off the court docket. After having a breakout season in 2020 whereas on the Atlanta Dream—together with profitable Most Improved Participant and being named to the All-Defensive First Workforce—Laney has elevated her sport on each ends of the ground since signing with the Liberty in 2021. Look past the field rating and easily watch the way in which she strikes from the second she will get the ball, pulling off behind-the-backs and spin strikes harking back to a 6-0 dancer (Laney took ballet, faucet and jazz courses when she was a toddler).
Together with her physicality and fast instincts on protection, Laney’s sometimes tasked with guarding the opposite staff’s finest participant, too. Her function, as head coach Sandy Brondello informed WNBA.com, is to be the “engine that will get everybody going.”
Provides Stewie: “I’ve identified B for a very very long time, and the way in which she is as a two-way participant, making issues actually tough, making the most of no matter matchup she has offensively but in addition [being a] defensive stopper. Arduous-nosed participant, by no means stops, does [the] soiled work, does regardless of the staff wants.”
Betnijah additionally has a method of commanding any room she’s in. On set, it’s B’s present when she poses in entrance of the digital camera—with no need any path from our photographer, she effortlessly switches angles and stares deeply into the lens. To cite one in all her favourite artists, Beyoncé, Betnijah’s giving I’m that woman power with every hair flip. Having spent the previous three years in Brooklyn, B is aware of what town is about, from the meals scene (she’s received a complete checklist of the perfect meals spots) to the way in which New Yorkers carry themselves. “Brooklyn individuals simply present up,” she says. “That New York environment, that gritty, [it’s] loud, [they’re] into it, they’re backing us. They’ve proven up and confirmed out, and so it’s sort of a give and take. We’re giving them a present [and] they’re fueling us.”
Collectively, Laney and Sab have been on the forefront of what the Liberty have been constructing towards. With a brand new staff dynamic and roster adjustments, it might’ve been simple for egos to get in the way in which of the Libs’ success this season, nevertheless it’s really been fairly the alternative. “It’s actually exhausting to place a staff with this a lot star energy collectively and for it to succeed,” Sabrina says. “However I believe when you’ve got gamers that aren’t solely taking part in for themselves however taking part in for each other, and from the start, we’ve all dedicated to taking part in for each other and desirous to see one another achieve no matter it’s that that particular person desires.
“And we’ve actually been purchased into that as a result of I believe to our core, that’s simply who we’re as people, and I believe that’s why we’re taking part in the way in which we’re and we’ve been having the season that we’ve been having in such a brief period of time [despite] not likely figuring out one another and taking part in with one another for therefore lengthy, ’trigger it’s simply who we’re. And we’ve actually stayed true to that.”
As a lot as this story is about them, our cowl stars aren’t the kind of individuals to make issues all about themselves. Ask Betnijah about her “why” and what motivates her and she or he brings up her niece, JJ (who she calls “Little JJ” when she’s round Jones), and the way she desires to proceed to “encourage [and] be function fashions.” Large JJ desires to win, however she additionally desires to succeed for her household and all of the individuals “who’ve sacrificed” to assist her get to the place she is at the moment. Sab brings up the method, and the way they’re capable of “look again” and see how a lot the group has grown.
They’re all taking part in for one thing greater than themselves. As they appear to carry a championship to Brooklyn, all of them acknowledge that this staff represents the brand new period of the W. An period of participant empowerment, of girls making energy strikes. “I’ve clearly been within the League for a very long time, and for therefore lengthy there wasn’t a whole lot of participant motion and there wasn’t a whole lot of this,” Sloot says. “Stewie touched on it, our potential to sort of management our careers and do what we would like, create this buzz. Ladies’s basketball is at an all-time excessive proper now, so why not reap the benefits of that? Take management of our careers, do what we would like, be the place we would like. And for all of us, that was right here.”
For Stewie, it’s easy. “Everybody,” she says, “is chasing greatness.”
SLAM 246 COVER TEES AVAILABLE NOW
Welcome to The Stars Align Tour. Take into account this New York Liberty SLAM 246 Cowl Tee as our official “tour merch” because the Libs proceed dominating the WNBA.
Cowl Story: Deyscha “Sway” Smith
Photographer: Marcus Stevens
Cowl Design: Lester Padilla
Cowl Shoot Producers: Sway, Sole Ortiz Ruiz, Arvind Pitchai
Video: Eli Selva
Intern: Haben Fessehazion
Graphics: Erica Davis, Abdel Kyle Traore
SLAM Social: Arvind Pitchai
WSLAM Social: Sole Ortiz Ruiz, Mya Peterson