Jonquel Jones, Breanna Stewart, Sabrina Ionescu, and their New York teammates were celebrated with confetti as the Liberty marked their WNBA championship victory in the Canyon of Heroes in downtown Manhattan.
New York Senator Chuck Schumer, Governor Kathy Hochul, and Mayor Eric Adams joined thousands of fans on the streets on Thursday.
The Liberty won their first championship by beating the Minnesota Lynx in an exciting overtime Game 5 of the WNBA Finals on Sunday at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
“(To) see how many people were in the crowd, smiling, celebrating the Liberty,” Ionescu said. “It really puts into perspective what it means to bring a championship to this city and how it really takes everyone.”
Former Liberty players from earlier teams, such as Teresa Weatherspoon, Vickie Johnson, Kym Hampton, and Crystal Robinson, along with current coach Sandy Brondello, were also at the parade and the ceremony afterward at City Hall.
The parade route was filled with fans of all ages, many of whom wore jerseys of their favorite players. Jones held her Finals MVP trophy high on her float, while Stewart and Ionescu interacted with the crowd, giving high-fives and taking selfies with fans.
“This is awesome. I’ve been a Liberty fan since they first started playing,” said Sarah Davis, who has supported the WNBA since its debut in 1997. “It’s so cool that we won and we could celebrate with a parade.”
New York has seen over 200 ticker-tape and confetti parades. The most recent one for a women’s sports team was in 2019 when the U.S. soccer team won the World Cup. Two years later, there was a parade honoring essential workers and first responders for their service during the coronavirus pandemic.
“On behalf of 20 million incredibly proud New Yorkers, I say welcome home to our champion women,” Hochul said, thanking Liberty owners Joe Tsai and Clara Wu Tsai for their support. “Let’s do it again next year.”
