The New York Liberty is a Women's National Basketball Association team. The team plays at Madison Square Garden in New York, and was one of the eight original teams that began to see action in 1997.

Contents

1 Uniform 2 Playoff History 3 History 4 Retired Numbers 5 Hall of Famers 6 Not to be Forgotten 7 Current Stars 8 Coaches and others 9 External links

Uniform

2003 - Present:

• White with teal, blue and orange trim and "Liberty" on the chest in light blue letters at home. Primary color is blue on the road with "New York" on the chest in white letters. The Liberty logo is on the left leg of the shorts.

1997-2002:

• White with a black line above the shoulders at home, black with a green line on the road. Their logo is of a Statue of Liberty with a basketball and the name "Liberty" across it.

Playoff History

Playoff Appearances: 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004

Conference Championships: 1997, 1999, 2000, 2002

WNBA Championships:

History

The term, "Always the bridesmaid, never the bride," could be used to describe the Liberty. When the WNBA opened in 1997, the Liberty was one of the first teams to choose a player, and they signed college superstar Rebecca Lobo to a contract. Lobo was injured soon thereafter, however, and her injuries have haunted her ever since. Despite this, the Liberty made it to the 1997 championship game, where the team lost to the Houston Comets. In 1999, they returned to the WNBA finals, where they lost two games to one to the Comets, despite Teresa Weatherspoon making what many consider one of the most spectacular shots in professional basketball history when she hit a shot from the other side of the court with one second to go to give the Liberty a one point win in game two.

The Liberty subsequently returned to the finals in 2000 and 2002, but lost once again to the Comets and to the Los Angeles Sparks, respectively. In 2001, Weatherspoon became the WNBA's all-time assist leader, and in addition to that, Sue Wicks, once a back-up center to Lobo, has also proven to be a good surprise for the team, making the All-Star game. 1998 and 2003 were the only years the Liberty failed to make the playoffs.

Six games during the 2004 season were moved to Radio City Music Hall as Madison Square Garden was hosting the 2004 Republican National Convention. These games marked the first time Radio City had hosted a professional sporting event since the Roy Jones Jr. boxing match held in 1999.

Retired Numbers

Hall of Famers

• Carol Blazejowski (General Manager)

Not to be Forgotten

• Rebecca Lobo
• Kim Hampton
• Teresa Weatherspoon
• Tamika Whitmore
• Sue Wicks

Current Stars

• Elena Baranova
• Erin Thorn
• Becky Hammon
• K.B Sharp
• Crystal Robinson

Coaches and others

Head Coaches:

• Nancy Darsch (1997-1998)
• Richie Adubato (1998-2004)
• Pat Coyle (2004- )

External links

• Liberty website (http://www.wnba.com/liberty)