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The New York Liberty boast one of the best rosters in the WNBA, leading many to dub them a ‘superteam.' Teams with three All-Stars rarely miss that mantra, but the Liberty haven’t won anything with that superstar trio, at least not yet.
Led by Sabrina Ionescu, Breanna Stewart and Courtney Vandersloot, the Liberty enter the 2023 WNBA playoffs as the two-seed, finishing with the second-best regular season record behind the defending champion Las Vegas Aces.
Ionescu and Vandersloot think the Liberty have been unfairly labeled as a superteam.
“I fricking hate it,” Vandersloot said, via Katie Barnes. “I hate it so much.” She also said she feels the pressure of heavy expectations and championship aspirations.
“I think it's something that has gotten put on us,” Ionescu said. “I don't think we're a superteam until we've won many championships in a row.”
A championship is what the Liberty want this season and they're on their way to it after a dominant regular season. They finished with a 32-8 record and 2-3 against the Aces, who are New York's likeliest opponents were they to reach the WNBA Finals.
Superteams haven’t always worked out in other sports, but the Liberty have as good a chance as any of them to finish the season at the top of the sport. Whether they like it or not, having good players means having high expectations. The Liberty know they are a championship favorite and that doesn’t come around too often. If they do win, getting called a superteam might not be so bad.