October 26, 2024
Locked On Women’s Basketball: Liberty celebrate in New York City
By The Next
Jackie Powell chronicles an all-day celebration of the 2024 WNBA champions
In the latest episode of Locked On Women’s Basketball, New York Liberty beat reporter Jackie Powell discusses the Liberty’s 2024 WNBA championship celebrations that took place on Thursday. Before or after listening, make sure to read her article on the parade as well.
Continue reading with a subscription to The Next
Get unlimited access to women’s basketball coverage and help support our hardworking staff of writers, editors, and photographers by subscribing today.
Already a member?
Login
Powell begins by explaining the significance of the Liberty’s parade route along what’s known as the Canyon of Heroes. It’s the same route that other local sports teams have traditionally used for championship parades, and it was also used to honor essential workers for their work during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Next, a 24/7/365 women’s basketball newsroom
The Next: A basketball newsroom brought to you by The IX. 24/7/365 women’s basketball coverage, written, edited and photographed by our young, diverse staff and dedicated to breaking news, analysis, historical deep dives and projections about the game we love.
“This was actually really quite significant for the New York Liberty,” Powell says. “… The first-ever New York City ticker-tape parade was done because of the Statue of Liberty’s arrival. Wild, huh? It was on Oct. 28, 1886, so we were so close — we were four days off — [to] it being exactly 138 years later.
“So this is very full circle. The Statue of Liberty arrives and is honored in 1886, and now, almost 138 years later, the New York Liberty — the women’s basketball team named after the statue — are being honored as WNBA champions.”
Want even more women’s sports in your inbox?
Subscribe now to our sister publication The IX and receive our independent women’s sports newsletter six days a week. Learn more about your favorite athletes and teams around the world competing in soccer, tennis, basketball, golf, hockey and gymnastics from our incredible team of writers.
Readers of The Next now save 50% on their subscription to The IX.
After the parade, the team was honored at City Hall before finishing the day at Barclays Center. Powell explains what struck her about how the ceremony at City Hall began:
“What was interesting about how the Liberty started this ceremony was they showed a video recapping their playoff run, all the highlights, and then they showed a video honoring their past legends. … It essentially was thanking the Liberty legends, and it ‘videoshopped’ players and the legends together.
“And so what I mean by that is, throughout the video, you saw Breanna Stewart in the same frame as Rebecca Lobo. You saw Sabrina Ionescu in the same frame as Teresa Weatherspoon when she was on the Liberty. You saw an interesting shot of Betnijah Laney-Hamilton alongside Becky Hammon when she was in a Liberty jersey. … And then I think there was a Courtney Vandersloot pass, which was videoshopped so that Crystal Robinson caught that pass and put it up for a layup. So just a really fascinating way to start the ceremony.”
Subscribe to the Locked On Women’s Basketball podcast to keep learning about the WNBA, women’s college basketball, basketball history and much more!
Add Locked On Women’s Basketball to your daily routine
Here at The Next, in addition to the 24/7/365 written content our staff provides, we also host the daily Locked On Women’s Basketball podcast. Join us Monday through Saturday each week as we discuss all things WNBA, collegiate basketball, basketball history and much more. Listen wherever you find podcasts or watch on YouTube.
