Chris DeMarco has been fired by the New York Liberty after one season as head coach.
The New York Liberty will not retain head coach Chris DeMarco, ESPN’s Alexa Phillippou reported on Tuesday. DeMarco, hired last year after a long tenure as a Golden State Warriors assistant coach, becomes the second consecutive Liberty head coach to be fired, after Sandy Brondello was let go last offseason (Brondello was later hired as the Toronto Tempo’s first-ever coach).
The Liberty went 26-18 under DeMarco and got swept by the Atlanta Dream in the second round of the playoffs. They started the year 13-12 and dealt with injuries to key players throughout the season. Offseason acquisition Satou Sabally played just 13 games, while Sabrina Ionescu and Leonie Fiebich both missed significant time.
As the No. 8 seed, the Liberty upset the Minnesota Lynx in the first round of the playoffs. But that wasn’t enough to salvage DeMarco’s underwhelming first season as coach, which culminated in him and his staff controversially failing to call a necessary timeout late in Game 3 of the Semi-Finals.
After the team’s elimination, Breanna Stewart, Jonquel Jones, and Ionescu were all asked about DeMarco’s future, and none definitively vouched for him.
“I mean, I don’t know what’s going to happen,” Ionescu said. “Regardless, thankful for him coaching us this year and obviously giving us a chance. And we just fell short.”
“That’s not our say,” Jones said. “Our job is to go out there and play good basketball and represent the organization well, represent the fan base well, and our families. And I think we do a good job of focusing on that. And it is what it is.”
Before becoming New York’s head coach, DeMarco served as an assistant coach with the Warriors for 14 seasons.
Liberty general manager Jonathan Kolb will now begin the team’s second consecutive offseason coaching search.
The Los Angeles Sparks are also seeking a new head coach after firing Lynne Roberts.