The 2023 season has been one of the best in WNBA history as the inaugural 40 game season provided fans with plenty of ups and downs. While the NY Liberty and the Las Vegas Aces had phenomenal seasons with both teams becoming the first sides to register 30+ victories in a regular season, the same cannot be said for former champions the Phoenix Mercury as they failed to qualify for the playoffs completely. Although boasting the likes of Brittney Griner and the evergreen Diana Taurasi, the Mercury were unable to perform at the expected level and eventually fell short at the final hurdle leaving many wondering about the franchise’s future. Despite the ill luck surrounding the Mercury, the Aces and the Liberty have been livening up the league as they head towards Game 3 of the WNBA Finals. The highly anticipated matchup between the two has been a one-sided story so far with the Aces having a 2-0 lead over the Liberty as the Finals now heads to Brooklyn.

Both teams have their fair share of stars on the roster with the Aces boasting the likes of A’ja Wilson and Chelsea Gray, while the Liberty have 2023 MVP winner Breanna Stewart, and Jonquel Jones to name a few. This star-studded final has got many fans calling it the ‘toughest’ WNBA Finals so far and the Liberty will be looking to follow that up as they hope to stop the defending champions from going back-to-back. While Aces coach Becky Hammon is a known figure within the country due to her collegiate career in Colorado, the same cannot be said about the NY Liberty coach Sandy Brondello. Even though the Australian has been a part of the WNBA since 1998 not many know of her legacy leaving many to wonder, who is NY Liberty’s coach Sandy Brondello?

Sandy Brondello’s early life and playing career

Born in Mackay, Queensland, Australia, Sandy Brondello grew up in a humble household as her parents owned and tended to a sugarcane farm. Starting to play the sport of basketball when she was 9, Sandy first played the sport in a grass court that her father built for her in their backyard slowly falling in love with the sport as time progressed. Standing at 5 feet and 7 inches tall Brondello wasn’t a colossal figure but despite this deficit she entered the Australian Women’s National Basketball League in the late 1980’s and it is here that her career first took off.

Winning the Australian Basketball player of the year award in 1992, Sandy gradually grew in stature during her time in Australia playing in the WNBL for 10 years while reaching the playoffs on 3 separate occasions. The former WNBA All-Star also won the WNBL MVP in 1995 and continued to play in the WNBL for another 3 seasons with the Brisbane Blazers. Although she played 10 seasons in the WNBL Brondello also played in Europe between 1992-2002 as she represented the BTV Wuppertal in Germany. Alternating her time between leagues in their respective off seasons the current NY Liberty coach won 10 National Titles during her time in Germany while also winning the 1995-96 FIBA Women’s European Champions Cup against Italian side Comense.

Although she found immense success in Australia and Europe, Brondello didn’t enter the WNBA until 1998 signing with the newly formed Detroit Shock in her first season. Her time in Detroit would also be the best year of her WNBA career as she made her sole All-Star appearance during this time averaging 14.2 points in 30 games. In her second season the Australian was picked by the Indiana Fever in the expansion draft but was traded shortly after to the Miami Sol without playing a single game for the Fever.

Playing a total of 65 games for the Miami Sol between 2001-2002 the tally was the highest Sandy had in the WNBA as she was riddled with injuries during the latter half of her career. Despite her fitness levels dropping considerably Sandy signed as a free agent for the Seattle Storm during the 2003 season playing alongside fellow Australians Lauren Jackson?and?Tully Bevilaqua in what was her final season in the WNBA.

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Despite only playing 155 games in the league Brondello was a feared opponent during her time in the WNBA with her 3-point shooting prowess being one of the best in league history. Boasting a 3-point shooting average of .410 Sandy still ranks fourth in the league for her shooting ability – a plausible feat given her short stay in the WNBA. While she failed to win a trophy in American soil as a player that all changed in the coming years as she then turned to coaching in 2005.

Transitioning to coaching and her time with the NY Liberty

After retiring from the WNBA in 2003, Sandy Brondello quickly found herself back in the league as she was given an assistant coaching role with the San Antonio Silver Stars. The former Detroit guard spent 4 seasons under coach and general manager Dan Hughes who then promoted Brondello to a head coach position in 2010 as she made her coaching debut against the Atlanta Dream.

Despite finishing the season in 3rd place with a 14-20 record Sandy and the Stars were swept in the first round of the playoffs by the Phoenix Mercury which eventually resulted in her being sacked and Dan Hughes returning to the dual role he first had before promoting Brondello.

After her somewhat unfair dismissal with the Silver Stars the Australian legend then joined the Los Angeles Sparks as an assistant coach in 2011 spending the next 2 years in LA before replacing Russ Pennell as the head coach for the Phoenix Mercury. It was during her time here that Brondello’s coaching acumen was brought to the forefront as she led the team to a 29-5 record in the regular season which was the best record in the league up until this season.

Her impressive season with the Mercury didn’t end there as she then led the team to the 2014 WNBA Finals where they swept the Chicago Sky in 3 games earning her the Coach of the Year award and her first WNBA title. Spending the next 7 seasons with the Phoenix side Brondello continued to lead the Mercury to the playoffs in all of those seasons but failed to win another title during this time.

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After failing to reach an agreement with the Mercury on her new contract Sandy left the Mercury in 2021 before taking over the reins in New York a year later. Now leading her team to their first WNBA finals in over 20 years, could Sandy Brondello defeat the Aces and Becky Hammon?