New York Liberty fire coach Chris DeMarco after one season

The New York Liberty fired head coach Chris DeMarco on Tuesday after only one season, the franchise announced. The eighth-seeded Liberty had swept top-seeded Minnesota in the first round before being swept by the Atlanta Dream in the semifinals. In Game 2 of that series, the team lost 101-98 in overtime after DeMarco did not use a reset timeout, and Breanna Stewart and DeMarco said officials told them the Liberty had no timeouts left. The WNBA called it a misunderstanding and reassigned the two officials to another game. The Liberty are now searching for a coach for a second straight offseason, and general manager Jonathan Kolb is running his fourth coaching search in seven years.

The right-leaning Washington Times leads with the Tuesday announcement and frames the move as the end of a disappointing season, with its excerpt containing no playoff details, officiating dispute or team quotes. The left-leaning New York Times instead leads with the search, asking who will be hired from eight names, and centers the pressure on Kolb after he missed on DeMarco, along with the need to maximize Stewart and other roster players. Both sides agree on the firing and the one-season tenure. They differ in emphasis: the right focuses on the season's outcome, while the left focuses on the roster and the next hire. The alternative side diverges more sharply. ESPN also centers the search and offseason priorities, but Defector gives extended attention to the Game 2 timeout error, the league's response and DeMarco's staffing, and calls the firing deserved.