2020 New York Liberty season

2020 New York Liberty season
Coach	Walt Hopkins
Arena	Originally: Barclays Center Rescheduled to: IMG Academy gymnasiums, Bradenton, Florida
Attendance	0 per game
Results
Record	2–20 (.091)
Place	6th (Eastern)
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
Team Leaders
Points	Kia Nurse – 12.2 ppg
Rebounds	Amanda Zahui B. – 8.5 rpg
Assists	Layshia Clarendon – 3.9 apg
Media
Television	YES
← 2019 season 2021 season →

The 2020 WNBA season was the 24th season for the New York Liberty franchise of the WNBA. The Liberty opened the regular season on July 25, 2020, versus the Seattle Storm. ^[1]

During the off-season the Liberty announced that they would return to the Barclays Center in Brooklyn as their permanent home. ^[2] In the 2018 and 2019 seasons, the Liberty's primary home venue was the Westchester County Center in White Plains, New York. Additionally, the Liberty announced that Walt Hopkins would replace Katie Smith as head coach. ^{[3] [4]}

This WNBA season had planned to feature an all-time high 36 regular-season games. ^[5] However, the plan for expanded games was put on hold on April 3, when the WNBA postponed its season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. ^[6] Under a plan approved on June 15, the league is scheduled to hold a shortened 22-game regular season at IMG Academy, without fans present, starting on July 24. ^{[7] [8]}

The Liberty's shortened season started slowly, when they lost their first five games. Their first win came on August 7, but was followed by another seven straight losses. An eight-game losing streak saw the team finish 2–20 for the season. Number one overall draft pick Sabrina Ionescu only played in three games for the Liberty. Their .091 winning percentage was the worst in team history.

Transactions

WNBA draft

See also: 2020 WNBA draft

Round	Pick	Player	Nationality	School/Team/Country
1	1	Sabrina Ionescu	United States	Oregon
1	9	Megan Walker	United States	UConn
1	12	Jazmine Jones	United States	Louisville
2	13	Kylee Shook	United States	Louisville
2	15	Leaonna Odom	United States	Duke
3	26	Erica Ogwumike	United States	Rice

Trades/Roster Changes

Date	Details
February 10, 2020	Signed G Layshia Clarendon [9]
February 24, 2020	Re-signed G Marine Johannès [10]
April 11, 2020	Engaged in a three team trade where the acquired the 13th pick in the 2020 draft and sent Sugar Rodgers to Las Vegas. [11]
April 15, 2020	Engaged in 3 team trade where they acquired G Shatori Walker-Kimbrough, the twelfth pick in the 2020 WNBA draft and the first, second, and third round picks in the 2021 WNBA draft from the Washington Mystics in exchange for Tina Charles. They also acquired Tayler Hill and the ninth and fifteenth pick in the 2020 draft in exchange for the Mystics' 2021 first-round pick and New York's 2021 second round pick. [12]
April 17, 2020	Traded the draft rights for G Erica Ogwumike to Minnesota in exchange for F Stephanie Talbot. [13]
	Acquired the draft rights to G/F Jocelyn Willoughby from Phoenix in exchange for G Shatori Walker-Kimbrough. [14]
April 21, 2020	Waived G Brittany Boyd [15]
April 29, 2020	Waived G Tayler Hill [16]
	Announced that F Stephanie Talbot would remain overseas for the 2020 season. [16]
June 25, 2020	G Rebecca Allen opts out of the 2020 season. [17]
June 26, 2020	Signed F Joyner Holmes. [18]
July 7, 2020	G Asia Durr opts out of the 2020 season. [19]

Current roster

New York Liberty roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Nat. Name Height Weight DOB From Yrs G 7 Clarendon, Layshia 5' 9" (1.75m) 158 lb (72kg) 1991-05-02 California 7 G 25 Durr, Asia 5' 10" (1.78m) 151 lb (68kg) 1997-04-05 Louisville 1 F 10 Holmes, Joyner 6' 3" (1.91m) 200 lb (91kg) 1998-02-22 Texas R G 20 Ionescu, Sabrina   5' 11" (1.8m) 165 lb (75kg) 1997-12-06 Oregon R G 4 Jones, Jazmine 6' 0" (1.83m) 160 lb (73kg) 1996-10-15 Louisville R G 22 Kea, Paris 5' 9" (1.75m) 142 lb (64kg) 1996-04-07 North Carolina 1 G 5 Nurse, Kia 6' 0" (1.83m) 168 lb (76kg) 1996-02-22 Connecticut 2 F 0 Odom, Leaonna 6' 2" (1.88m) 168 lb (76kg) 1998-03-26 Duke R F 24 Shook, Kylee 6' 4" (1.93m) 200 lb (91kg) 1998-03-18 Louisville R C 41 Stokes, Kiah 6' 3" (1.91m) 191 lb (87kg) 1993-03-30 Connecticut 4 F 3 Walker, Megan 6' 1" (1.85m) 175 lb (79kg) 1998-11-23 Connecticut R G/F 13 Willoughby, Jocelyn 6' 0" (1.83m) 180 lb (82kg) 1998-03-25 Virginia R C 17 Zahui B., Amanda 6' 5" (1.96m) 250 lb (113kg) 1993-09-08 Minnesota 5	Head coach Walt Hopkins Assistant coaches Shelley Patterson Kelly Raimon Dustin Gray Legend (C) Team captain (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured   WNBA roster page
East ATL CHI CON IND NY WAS West DAL GS LV LA MIN PHO SEA

Game log

Regular season

2020 game log Total: 2–20
July Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 1 July 25 Seattle Storm L 71–87 Clarendon (20) Stokes (9) Ionescu (4) IMG Academy 0 0–1 2 July 29 Dallas Wings L 80–93 Ionescu (33) Zahui B. (11) Ionescu (7) IMG Academy 0 0–2 3 July 31 Atlanta Dream L 78–84 Jones (20) Stokes (7) Clarendon (5) IMG Academy 0 0–3
August Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 4 August 2 Phoenix Mercury L 67–96 Nurse (17) Zahui B. (9) Tied (4) IMG Academy 0 0–4 5 August 5 Minnesota Lynx L 66–92 Zahui B. (13) Stokes (8) Clarendon (6) IMG Academy 0 0–5 6 August 7 Washington Mystics W 74–66 Nurse (17) Zahui B. (14) Clarendon (6) IMG Academy 0 1–5 7 August 9 Las Vegas Aces L 76–78 Zahui B. (20) Stokes (12) Clarendon (8) IMG Academy 0 1–6 8 August 11 Los Angeles Sparks L 78–93 Jones (24) Zahui B. (10) Clarendon (5) IMG Academy 0 1–7 9 August 13 Indiana Fever L 79–86 Nurse (21) Stokes (8) Tied (3) IMG Academy 0 1–8 10 August 15 Minnesota Lynx L 64–94 Jones (13) Zahui B. (8) Nurse (3) IMG Academy 0 1–9 11 August 18 Seattle Storm L 64–105 Nurse (21) Tied (6) 3 tied (2) IMG Academy 0 1–10 12 August 20 Chicago Sky L 85–101 Jones (18) Stokes (9) Clarendon (5) IMG Academy 0 1–11 13 August 22 Connecticut Sun L 65–82 Nurse (17) Zahui B. (10) Tied (5) IMG Academy 0 1–12 14 August 25 Chicago Sky W 101–99 Zahui B. (22) Zahui B. (12) Clarendon (5) IMG Academy 0 2–12 15 August 29 Las Vegas Aces L 63–80 Key (14) Zahui B. (21) Clarendon (4) IMG Academy 0 2–13
September Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 16 September 1 Connecticut Sun L 65–70 Nurse (18) Zahui B. (10) Tied (3) IMG Academy 0 2–14 17 September 3 Atlanta Dream L 56–62 Tied (12) Zahui B. (11) Zahui B. (3) IMG Academy 0 2–15 18 September 5 Phoenix Mercury L 67–83 Holmes (13) Holmes (13) Clarendon (3) IMG Academy 0 2–16 19 September 8 Los Angeles Sparks L 70–96 Willoughby (21) Stokes (8) Clarendon (5) IMG Academy 0 2–17 20 September 10 Indiana Fever L 75–85 Kea (21) Jones (10) Tied (4) IMG Academy 0 2–18 21 September 12 Washington Mystics L 58–75 Tied (15) Tied (7) Jones (6) IMG Academy 0 2–19 22 September 13 Dallas Wings L 79–82 Jones (21) Zahui B. (10) Nurse (7) IMG Academy 0 2–20
2020 season schedule

Awards and honors

Recipient	Award	Date awarded	Ref.
Jazmine Jones	All-Rookie Team	September 27, 2020	[20]

Standings

#	Team	W	L	PCT	GB	Conf.
1	x – Las Vegas Aces	18	4	.818	–	8–2
2	x – Seattle Storm	18	4	.818	–	8–2
3	x – Los Angeles Sparks	15	7	.682	3	5–5
4	x – Minnesota Lynx	14	8	.636	4	4–6
5	x – Phoenix Mercury	13	9	.591	5	4–6
6	x – Chicago Sky	12	10	.545	6	6–4
7	x – Connecticut Sun	10	12	.455	8	7–3
8	x – Washington Mystics	9	13	.409	9	6–4
9	e – Dallas Wings	8	14	.364	10	1–9
10	e – Atlanta Dream	7	15	.318	11	5–5
11	e – Indiana Fever	6	16	.273	12	4–6
12	e – New York Liberty	2	20	.091	16	2–8

• v
• t
• e

Notes

x – Clinched playoff berth

e – Eliminated from playoffs

Home and Away records not shown, as all games played at a neutral location.

Updated to include results from September 13, 2020

Source

Statistics

Legend
GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game	RPG	Rebounds per game
APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game	BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game
FG%	Field-goal percentage	3P%	3-point field-goal percentage	FT%	Free-throw percentage	TO	Turnovers per game
PF	Fouls per game		Team leader		League leader

Source: ^[21]

Regular season

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Sabrina Ionescu	3	3	26.7	45.2%	35.0%	100%	4.7	4.0	0.7	0.0	18.3
Kia Nurse	21	18	27.5	27.3%	23.8%	86.4%	2.9	2.3	0.5	0.2	12.2
Layshia Clarendon	19	19	26.1	46.5%	34.1%	87.3%	2.5	3.9	0.9	0	11.5
Jazmine Jones	20	2	21.4	40.4%	33.3%	78.8%	4.1	2.3	1.4	0.5	10.8
Amanda Zahui B.	21	20	25.3	35.3%	34.0%	69.4%	8.5	1.9	0.9	1.2	9.0
Paris Kea	11	5	15.0	38.4%	39.4%	87.5%	2.0	1.5	0.6	0.3	6.9
Jocelyn Willoughby	22	5	17.4	35.8%	40.5%	83.3%	2.4	0.9	0.7	0.3	5.8
Kiah Stokes	22	22	27.3	37.2%	23.5%	57.1%	6.7	1.2	0.5	1.2	5.7
Leaonna Odom	22	16	20.6	49.0%	25.0%	87.0%	2.3	0.7	0.7	0.4	5.5
Kylee Shook	20	0	14.5	40.5%	17.6%	82.4%	2.8	0.6	0.4	0.5	4.1
Megan Walker	18	0	11.4	32.1%	14.0%	60.0%	1.5	0.3	0.2	0.0	3.3
Joyner Holmes	19	0	10.0	30.6%	10.7%	75.0%	2.7	0.7	0.1	0.1	2.9

References

1. "2020 New York Liberty Schedule". Women's National Basketball Association. Retrieved February 12, 2020.
2. Nemchock, Eric (October 18, 2019). "New York Liberty set to make Barclays Center permanent home". Swish Appeal. Retrieved January 21, 2020.
3. "New York Liberty Announce Head Coach Katie Smith's Contract Not Renewed". wnba.com. WNBA. October 16, 2019. Retrieved October 21, 2019.
4. Ayala, Erica (January 10, 2010). "What to make of the Liberty's hire of first-time head coach Walt Hopkins". The Athletic. Archived from the original on September 13, 2020. Retrieved January 21, 2020.
5. "Atlanta Dream Announce 2020 Schedule - Atlanta Dream". dream.wnba.com. Retrieved February 1, 2020.
6. "WNBA Statement Regarding the Start of the 2020 Regular Season". April 3, 2020. Retrieved April 3, 2020.
7. "WNBA Announces Plan To Tip Off 2020 Season". WNBA. June 15, 2020. Retrieved June 17, 2020.
8. "WNBA announces plans for 2020 season to start late July in Florida". NBC Sports Washington. June 15, 2020. Retrieved June 15, 2020.
9. "Liberty Sign Guard Layshia Clarendon to Open Free Agency". liberty.wnba.com. WNBA. February 10, 2020. Retrieved February 12, 2020.
10. "New York Liberty Re-Signs Marine Johannés". liberty.wnba.com. WNBA. February 24, 2020. Retrieved February 24, 2020.
11. "Atlanta Dream Acquire Nia Coffey in Trade". dream.wnba.com. WNBA. April 11, 2019. Retrieved April 15, 2020.
12. "Washington Mystics Acquire 7x All-Star Tina Charles in Three-Team Deal". wnba.com. WNBA. April 15, 2020. Retrieved April 15, 2020.
13. "Get To Know Erica Ogwumike". lynx.wnba.com. WNBA. April 17, 2020. Retrieved April 19, 2020.
14. Metcalfe, Jeff (April 17, 2020). "Phoenix Mercury trade WNBA first-round draft pick for veteran Walker-Kimbrough". USA Today. Retrieved April 19, 2020.
15. "New York Liberty Waive Guard Brittany Boyd". liberty.wnba.com. WNBA. April 21, 2020. Retrieved April 30, 2020.
16. "Liberty Waive Tayler Hill, Talbot to Remain Overseas in 2020". liberty.wnba.com. WNBA. April 28, 2020. Retrieved April 29, 2020.
17. "Rebecca Allen Opts Out of 2020 Season". liberty.wnba.com. WNBA. June 25, 2020. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
18. "New York Liberty Sign Joyner Holmes". liberty.wnba.com. WNBA. June 26, 2020. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
19. "New York Liberty Guard Asia Durr To Miss 2020 WNBA Season". liberty.wnba.com. WNBA. July 7, 2020. Retrieved July 7, 2020.
20. "Rookie Of The Year Crystal Dangerfield Headlines 2020 WNBA All-Rookie Team". wnba.com. WNBA. September 27, 2019. Retrieved September 29, 2019.
21. "Team Stats". liberty.wnba.com. The WNBA. Retrieved October 1, 2020.

External links

• The Official Site of the New York Liberty