Satou York: Liberty's Sabally Finds New Look in More Ways Than One

Satou Sabally’s Brooklyn arrival tipped off a fast and furious afternoon of transactions for the New York Liberty.

BROOKLYN—Like many Ducks, Satou Sabally is flying north for the summer…and the next few after that.

(Photo By. Brandon Todd/New York Liberty)

The Oregon alumna and former free agent is officially a member of the New York Liberty, as the team hosted her arrival at its Brooklyn Basketball Training Center on Friday morning. Formerly of Phoenix, Sabally was regaled by the next generation of Brooklyn basketballers before making her unofficial metropolitan hardwood debut against them.

That defense is paying off already:#WNBA pic.twitter.com/yUbfWwGhlI

— Geoff Magliocchetti (@GeoffJMags) April 17, 2026

“Satou is phenomenal,” new Liberty head coach Chris DeMarco said when discussing what made Sabally essential to a championship chase. “She’s smart, [she’s got] versatility, she’s got a dog in her that I absolutely love. She’s going to fight and we can play a lot of different ways with her.”

The joy surrounding Sabally’s arrival, punctuated with homemade signs, jovial cheers, and the sound system blaring Alicia Keys and Jay-Z’s metropolitan ballad “Empire State of the Mind,” was a quite a contrast to her last Brooklyn reception: her touches drew only groans when she and Alyssa Thomas led the way with 15 points each in the Mercury’s 86-60 shellacking of New York last fall.

That came in Game 2 of opening playoff round action at Barclays Center and Phoenix would secure the winner-take-all finale behind a Sabally double-double back home to earn the first of two series victories required to appear in the WNBA Finals.

It ended the Liberty’s first-ever postseason championship defense, but the addition of Sabally only adds to a sense of “unfinished business”: she now re-ups with fellow former Duck Sabrina Ionescu six years after a potential national championship run was shut down by the cancellation of the 2020 NCAA Tournament. After that shutdown, Sabally was the No. 2 pick of the ensuing WNBA Draft … trailing only Ionescu.

Sabally came close to checking championship off her career bucket list but medical misfortune awaited in the finale: not only did the Mercury run into the Sin City buzzsaw that was the Las Vegas Aces but Sabally endured a head injury when she landed on the leg of Kierstan Bell. The ailment turned out to be a concussion that kept Sabally out of Unrivaled, where she previously worked with Ionescu on Phantom BC.

“It almost thrills me to not have [a championship] yet, because there’s still something to go for and still something to chase,” Sabally said. “I’m just so passionate about the game of basketball, but I had a lot of time to think about everything, like my values, my priorities in life, and where I want to be in the future.”

With that in mind, it’s fair to question why Sabally would ditch the desert to play for a team she helped vanquish. New York, in short, has apparently fulfilled Sabally’s prior wishes of playing for a team where a standard was established and the organization’s professionalism was firmly set.

She found it with the Mercury in a pre-new collective bargaining agreement gap year of sorts. Now, she’s set to take it to New York on a multi-year that reunites her with former teammates like Ionescu, Leonie Fiebich, and Breanna Stewart.

“The decision was also between New York and Phoenix last year,” Sabally explained. “I had a great time [with the Mercury] and I’m really super thankful for it. But I also did only sign a one-year contract and I agreed to a multi year deal here, and I really see this as as a whole. So I’ve been in New York a lot in the offseason, and I love New York so much. I think I wanted to combine my private life and business a little bit more than I previously did in my career.”

Photo: Geoff Magliocchetti, Ball Is Life

Selfless Sabally Ready For Something New

It was perhaps fitting that Sabally was introduced as an accompaniment to a community event, as she’s often one to keep a finger on the pulse of non-game day happenings in and beyond the W.

The No. 0 jersey she’s set to don in Brooklyn, one she hoisted in front of the gathered masses in a group photo with her young adoring public, isn’t the only change Sabally will see when she looks in the mirror before tip-off: she recent cut off her renowned curls in support of her close friend Sunni’s battle with alopecia, an autoimmune disorder that attacks hair follicles. Despite standing as the star attraction, Sabally turned the microphone over to Sunni, beaming as her friend gratefully spoke of the forward essentially sacrificing the universal “emotional connection” to hair.

Sabally continued to live up to such a reputation by turning another part of the presser into a de facto obituary for the metropolitan career of her younger sister Nyara Sabally, a Liberty veteran removed from Brooklyn by the expansion draft proceedings.

Nyara, who created a permanent place in New York championship lore with her breakout performance in the Liberty’s 2024 WNBA Finals triumph, was poached from Atlantic Avenue by a Toronto Tempo group led by ex-Brooklyn boss Sandy Brondello. Though “bummed” that her jersey won’t require a first initial, Sabally embraced the legacy that Nyara has given her to pick up in what should be a pressure-packed tour of the borough.

“I think it’s a compliment to Nyara that she was chosen to be in a different franchise. Sandy, I already knew she’s gonna take my ‘Ya,” the elder Sabally said. “I’m sad about it, but every time I’ve been walking around, the way that people talk about Nyara just makes me so proud. I’m continuing a legacy here. She started it and I’m just continuing something that my little sister started. She won a championship, she won a ring for the city, and I want to follow her footsteps.”

“Sisters, you want to play together, but I think it’s a true honor that she was chosen to be a part of an expansion team and build something new. That trust was instilled in her to be that next person.”

That probably makes it no surprise that Sabally essentially confirmed rumors that she passed on one of the seven-figure contracts made possible by the new CBA to instead

“I can be a superstar and single myself out in a different team and get that $1.2 or 1.4 [million] but what I really wanted to do is win a championship. I think that is missing on my resume,” Sabally said. “I am an All-Star. I know who I am. I know I’m a great player, but I do want that ring, and I want to do it alongside people that I trust and alongside people that I want to really compete with and in a place that embraces sports culture in a different way. It’s so cultural here, and I love that it’s so political here.

“Just like being able to really fuse all facets of my life, because I’m a very multi-dimensional person, and translate that on a court, because my results will always show who I am, my decision to play for the Liberty was definitely also one for on-the-court [reasons] and competing for a championship.”

Photo by Phoenix Mercury

Ducks In A Row

Sabally wasn’t the only one secured on the Liberty roster before the weekend got underway: less than two hours after she left the podium, New York announced the re-signings of its primary trio of Ionescu, Stewart, and Jonquel Jones. Like Sabally, each was retained on a multi-year deal, re-establishing Brooklyn as a hub of big-time WNBA action for years to come.

First, however, came the jubilant call of homecoming: Barclays Center will host at least 22 Oregon reunions this year with Ionescu and Sabally taking the floor. The news rendered the winged duo, well-known for their on-floor stoicism, capable only of indecipherable squeaking once Sabally’s move was finalized.

“We were just both, like, squeaking when we went on FaceTime, I think, for about two minutes, just like, oh my God, so that was the initial conversation,” Sabally recalled of her first contact with Ionescu after the signing. “Obviously we had conversations before that, and she actually told me, she was like, I don’t truly know everything that the front office is doing, but I know they’re doing the right thing, and they’re going to get the best players for us. I loved it.”

Such confirmation is the latest sign of the Liberty taking things personally after its Sabally-induced early exit, one that’s also set to welcome back Betnijah Laney-Hamilton after she missed the entire championship defense with knee issues. Sabally made sure to note that she’s grateful to be Laney-Hamilton’s teammate after the two engaged in several heated hardwood battles during the former’s original WNBA days with the Dallas Wings.

Sabally has never been one to keep her battles on the floor, notably offering several critical takes on initial CBA proposals extended by the league when such conversations first hit the hardwood mainstream last summer. With a new CBA secured (one where Sabally offered gratitude and props to both commissioner Cathy Engelbert and the players union headed by Nneka Ogwumike), Sabally was convinced that New York’s attempt to get with the post-signing times both on and off the floor was in motion long before pens hit paper for signatures.

“I think that was a big part of the CBA negotiations this year: fulfilling minimum standards, really catering to your players and having great player relationships, and that is really what New York embodies,” Sabally said. “They have really been on the forefront with ownership just really supplying what we as athletes need.”

“I’ve been able to observe it a little bit from a different angle, but I really know that this also aligns with my identity of wanting to be at the highest level and that is really truly [apparent], from the organizational aspect down to the players that they have on a roster. You show up on time, you show up to work, and your values and standards are just like, really high.”

Geoff Magliocchetti is on X @GeoffJMags