Satou Sabally made a name for herself in the W for being a prolific scorer from almost anywhere on the floor, and for her guard-like ballhandling and shooting abilities at 6'4”. Now, she's on a New York Liberty squad already loaded with talent, like Breanna Stewart, Jonquel Jones, and Sabrina Ionescu, and she seems to be adapting to the new role in stride.
On Sunday, the Liberty beat the Washington Mystics in commanding fashion, outscoring the team 86-64. Sabally only scored seven points off the bench for New York, but she impacted the game greatly, dishing out six assists and finishing with a +/- of +15, second only to Sabrina Ionescu (+18), who made her return to gameplay after three weeks. The outing brought Sabally's averages to 10.1 points and 2.9 rebounds, numbers that are both career-lows, but that directly contribute to the Liberty clinching its spot in the Commisioner's Cup Final and advancing to a 10-4 record.
Coach Chris DeMarco was pleased with the forward's, performance. "Obviously she can score the basketball, but tonight the defense came and helped [and] she made the right plays,” he said in the postgame media availability. ”[She's] just another weapon for us."
The Liberty didn't need Sabally to score much, as Jones scored 20 points on 7/11 shooting and Stewart closely followed with a remarkable stat line with 14 points, 12 rebounds, and 7 blocks.
DeMarco also added, "She's doing a really good job; she's played with a lot of different lineups and as we continue to ramp her up and get her more comfortable, she'll definitely have the ball in her hands a little bit more."
Sabally is relinquishing ego for the greater good
Between 2023 and 2025, Sabally started every game in which she played for Dallas and Phoenix. To start the 2026 season, she's only started three of nine after missing the Liberty's first five games due to injury. A player of her caliber choosing to come to an already-established Liberty squad with full knowledge that she will not be the focal point of the offense is a great sign of the kind of maturity and team-focused knack for the game that leads to championships.
The WNBA season is long, and in 2026 it's longer than ever. Come playoff time, injuries and fatigue sweep across the league, and almost no team starts the playoffs with the same roster it began the season with. Sabally's willingness to take the backseat for now might be the piece the team was missing in its disappointing 2025 run.
As DeMarco told the press, Sabally is bound to score and touch the ball more as the season progresses, but even if she doesn't, she has proven to the team that she can affect winning in whatever other way she can. Jones and Stewart can rest assured knowing that when they sit to rest during games, a player as good as Sabally will propel the bench unit to play winning basketball.
It is still up in the air if Sabally will become a more consistent starter for the Liberty as she gets healthier and as the team gets all of its pieces moving in the way they should, but New York has turned it around significantly since she's gotten the chance to play more, and with Ionescu creeping towards joining the regular roster, New York is back to looking like the championship squad they were in 2024.
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