Scene: Interior Barclays Center. As the lights dim for a halftime show on the New York Liberty’s home court, an air of anticipation sweeps the crowd. A familiar gray leg steps out of the tunnel. The fans suddenly rise to their feet as a deafening ovation consumes the sold-out arena. Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No! It’s Brooklyn’s favorite twerker and the Liberty’s cherished mascot, Ellie the Elephant!

Ellie’s sass is unparalleled and so are her moves. A powerhouse performer in its truest sense. ‘Big Ellie Liberty’ also boasts 119K Instagram followers and nearly 200K on TikTok. Sometimes, she even outclasses the WNBA players in the fashion game. Acing social media challenges and trends has gotten her a long way since becoming the Liberty’s new mascot in 2021 when the team changed ownership from being under the NY Knicks to shifting to the Brooklyn Nets.

Ellie took over from where Maddie, the dog, their previous mascot, left, and elevated the game to unforeseen levels. While the performer embodying the cute elephant remains anonymous, here’s how she became a sensation. “Ellie has such a strong connection with our crowd. I think it’s also attributed to her background,” NY Liberty’s Chief Brand Officer Shana Stephenson told CBS Mornings. “Ellie was an athlete, a dancer. So she really is a performer at heart. So understanding how to motivate the crowd, the fans, she’s always gonna show up.”

Stephenson also disclosed an interesting little detail about how the Brooklyn spirit stays alive within Ellie. “Ellie is born and raised in Brooklyn. So she really taps into her roots as a true Brooklynite,” she added. “The energy, the spirit, the attitude that you see and that the fans love is all really authentic to who she is.”

Ellie also has a signature stomp dance routine, called the ‘Ellie Stomp’, that she performs at every game to rev up the fans. With that, her flamboyantly elegant catwalk, and the green crown symbolizing the Statue of Liberty, no wonder she’s a crowd favorite. Moreover, the tale of her inception only reveals the layered personality she possesses.

How a 138-year-old story inspired the NY Liberty to birth Ellie the Elephant

Ellie the Elephant was introduced to the world in 2021, in the WNBA’s 25th anniversary year. As she earned a name for herself, love and appreciation poured in from all four directions. “The way Ellie be moving, only a soul sista can do that,” was Liberty Forward, Kayla Thornton’s review. However, there was a slight possibility that the New York Liberty wouldn’t have chosen an elephant as their mascot if it wasn’t for PT Barnum, America’s greatest showman.

“Our CEO came across a story that when the Brooklyn Bridge was built in the 1800s (it officially opened in 1883), there was doubts about how strong and safe it would be,” Shana Stephenson said. “And PT Barnum and Bailey executed a stunt where herds of elephants (21, to be precise) walked across the bridge to prove it was indeed strong and safe and durable.”

Stephenson also explained how the entire organization comes together for everything Ellie. “We love everything that Elephants symbolize.” Even the mascot name has a cute little backstory. “Ellie is short for elephant, of course, but also Ellis island, which is the home of the Statue of Liberty. There’s a lot of strong symbolism.”

Ellie has become one of the WNBA’s greatest entertainers. “A new kind of role model” is how the Women’s Health Magazine described her when the 2024 regular season concluded. Fans love her. The players love her. The coaches do too, and so do we. What bigger bestowal can the person inside the costume long for?