With the Minnesota Lynx already securing their playoff spot, the heat is now on the New York Liberty. At the moment, the defending champions are having a bit of a bumpy ride. Placed fifth on the table, Liberty has 24 wins and 16 losses. And with the team looking to bounce back immediately, the team is dearly missing the services of Sabrina Ionescu.
Liberty will be eager to defend its championship title this year. However, in order to do that, it will first need to ensure smooth sailing into the playoffs. In the meantime, a recent update from coach Sandy Brondello had the Liberty fans confused.
Sabrina Ionescu Doubtful Despite A ‘Progressing’ Status
Injuries have been plaguing each and every team this year. The issue has become so major that Natalie Nakase gave her brutally honest take on the widespread issue. Unfortunately, Liberty, too, hasn’t been spared from the curse. With their premier star, Ionescu, injured, the team has been struggling significantly. Ionescu has already missed out on the last three of the four games.
In a recent update from coach Brondello, her status for Tuesday’s game has been updated as ‘progressing.’ Now, this came as a big disappointment for the fans. After all, a ‘progressing’ status means that the chances of the 27-year-old playing are really slim.
“She knows her body. We don’t know if [she will play] tomorrow or not. … We’ll see,” Brondello said.
STATUS REPORT vs Valkyries (9/2)
— SSN- New York Liberty (@SSN_Liberty) September 2, 2025
Sabrina Ionescu is QUESTIONABLE
Nyara Sabally is also QUESTIONABLE pic.twitter.com/nhwrp7DLtS
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Ionescu initially hurt her left foot during an in-game collision with Kamilla Cardoso. Adding to her woes further, the Liberty star once again hurt the big toe on her left foot during a practice session. Meanwhile, facing a shock defeat to the Chicago Sky, Ionescu spoke about the defensive lapses.
Sabrina Ionescu Admits Defensive Lapses Against Chicago Sky
The 27-year-old has been one of the biggest icons of the game. Ionescu’s 36-point game against the Connecticut Sun sped up her MVP contention. However, all of her hard work got eclipsed as her team could not get past a depleted Chicago Sky. With Sky already eliminated from the playoff contention, very few people expected them to win. But the reality was pretty different. In the end, Sky triumphed over Liberty with a scoreline of 85-91. And immediately, Ionescu was quick to admit their defensive lapses.
“When you give a team hope, that’s all they need. And I’d say in the first half we made things way too easy for them, and that gave them hope going into halftime, knowing that they could hang with us. And I mean, Chicago is a good team. They just haven’t put it together,” said Ionescu.
Well, the team is looking to be in a bit of a tricky state. And now that Ionescu is expected to miss more games, fans will be eager to see what happens next.