In the latest episode of Locked On Women’s Basketball, New York Liberty beat reporter Jackie Powell discusses the Liberty’s 2024 WNBA championship celebrations that took place on Thursday. Before or after listening, make sure to read her article on the parade as well.
Powell begins by explaining the significance of the Liberty’s parade route along what’s known as the Canyon of Heroes. It’s the same route that other local sports teams have traditionally used for championship parades, and it was also used to honor essential workers for their work during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“This was actually really quite significant for the New York Liberty,” Powell says. “… The first-ever New York City ticker-tape parade was done because of the Statue of Liberty’s arrival. Wild, huh? It was on Oct. 28, 1886, so we were so close — we were four days off — [to] it being exactly 138 years later.
“So this is very full circle. The Statue of Liberty arrives and is honored in 1886, and now, almost 138 years later, the New York Liberty — the women’s basketball team named after the statue — are being honored as WNBA champions.”
After the parade, the team was honored at City Hall before finishing the day at Barclays Center. Powell explains what struck her about how the ceremony at City Hall began:
“What was interesting about how the Liberty started this ceremony was they showed a video recapping their playoff run, all the highlights, and then they showed a video honoring their past legends. … It essentially was thanking the Liberty legends, and it ‘videoshopped’ players and the legends together.
“And so what I mean by that is, throughout the video, you saw Breanna Stewart in the same frame as Rebecca Lobo. You saw Sabrina Ionescu in the same frame as Teresa Weatherspoon when she was on the Liberty. You saw an interesting shot of Betnijah Laney-Hamilton alongside Becky Hammon when she was in a Liberty jersey. … And then I think there was a Courtney Vandersloot pass, which was videoshopped so that Crystal Robinson caught that pass and put it up for a layup. So just a really fascinating way to start the ceremony.”
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