Two teams have started the 2025 WNBA season off undefeated: the New York Liberty and the Minnesota Lynx. Those are the same teams that went to the finals last season. New York is still the favorite to repeat, and the Liberty’s stars wasted no time reminding the rest of the league that the championship is theirs to lose.
Sandy Brondello’s club is off to a dominant start, leading the league in several major categories going into Wednesday’s games. Seeing the Liberty excel in so many aspects of the game just underlines how well-rounded the team is, even after losing Betnijah Laney-Hamilton to an injury before the start of the season.
New York excels in almost every aspect of the game
The Liberty may have lost Betnijah Laney-Hamilton, Kayla Thornton, and Courtney Vandersloot since winning a title last season, but they found a way to make up for those losses. Natasha Cloud has been a brilliant fit, Kennedy Burke has stepped up her game, and Marine Johannes and Rebekah Gardner have been solid off the bench.
Their contributions paired with strong play from Breanna Stewart, Sabrina Ionescu, and Jonquel Jones, have made the Liberty a dominant two-way team once again. New York currently leads the league in points per game, field goal percentage, 3-point percentage, assists per game, blocks per game, offensive rating, defensive rating, and plus-minus. The latter is especially impressive considering the gap between the Liberty and the next-best team. The Liberty currently have a plus-minus of 20.6. Minnesota is next in line with 8.3.
As if that wasn’t enough yet, the Liberty also rank second in free-throw percentage, and third in rebounds and steals per game. The team is excelling in every major part of the game, giving opponents few weak spots to take advantage of. Beating New York in a playoff series will be no easy feat.
Few teams could give the Liberty trouble
New York is not the only strong team in the league. The Minnesota Lynx, Las Vegas Aces, Indiana Fever, and Phoenix Mercury are also well set up to go on deep playoff runs. Even those teams will struggle to hang with the Liberty at times, though.
So far, the Liberty have played the Aces and the Fever, beating both. Their win over Las Vegas was decisive, but the game against Indiana was decided by only two points. A rematch against the Fever is scheduled for next Saturday. However, the Fever might still be without Caitlin Clark depending on how her recovery progresses.
After that, the Liberty will get a chance to prove themselves against other talented teams with consecutive games against Atlanta, Phoenix, and Seattle. New York will not take on Minnesota, perhaps its biggest challenge, until the end of July.