Chris DeMarco’s run as the New York Liberty’s head coach ended after just one season. The team fired him on Tuesday, and as the search for a replacement begins, attention has turned back to the moments that shaped his year. One of them came on a July night in Indiana, when a lopsided loss to the Fever set off a string of conversations inside the Liberty’s camp. And Breanna Stewart was in the middle of it all.

WNBA insider Jackie Powell recently spoke about what came out of that scene. She was not at the arena, but she said a colleague on the ground in Indiana told her what was going on.

“I wasn’t there, but I was hearing from colleagues. I mean, I had a colleague on the ground in Indiana who was telling me, ‘Oh my God, this is like the worst vibes of a locker room that I’ve ever seen this season.’ And saying things like [Breanna] Stewart and Chris [DeMarco] got heated after that postgame press conference,” Powell said per an X post.

The game in question was played on July 18 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Indiana pulled away with an 18-2 run in the third quarter and won by 20, dropping New York to 13-12. The New York Post called it the Liberty’s most deflating loss of the season. 

It also ended a 2-8 stretch, the toughest 10-game run of Stewart’s time in New York.

Right after the game, the players met on their own in the visitors’ locker room. Stewart later explained the thinking behind it. She wanted the group to remember what got them there, and she felt that a team trying to follow every instruction perfectly can start to play stiffly.

“It becomes a little bit robotic and it was more so like play your game,” she said.

After the postgame news conference, Stewart and DeMarco spoke at length in the hallway, which was seen as a heated altercation about the 108-88 loss to the Fever, despite Breanna Stewart scoring a team-high 26 points.

Stewart said, “We probably were just talking about staying the course,” and added that she planned to keep doing that. The team met again after film the next day.

That night fit a pattern that had followed the Liberty for much of the first half. The team had often tried to solve problems one player at a time instead of together, and injuries and officiating calls had often been cited as reasons for the struggles. 

The roster was also in constant motion. New York used 15 different starting lineups in the regular season. Sabrina Ionescu dealt with foot and back problems, and free-agent signing Satou Sabally played only 13 games after a concussion.

Only four players from the 2024 championship team were left, and Breanna Stewart said the group needed to understand its identity sooner.

After that July meeting, things settled. Ionescu pointed to a steadier starting lineup, a clearer rotation and defined roles, and the Liberty won seven of their next eight games. Breanna Stewart also became more vocal. She said she did not want anyone to take it the wrong way, but that if she had a question or saw something that looked off, she would speak up.

“I’m just not having any type of regrets. I’m gonna be blunt and straightforward with all my things right now,” she said.

The Liberty finished 26-18 and entered the playoffs as the No. 8 seed. They swept the top-seeded Minnesota Lynx in the first round, then were swept by the Atlanta Dream in the semifinals. In the overtime loss in Game 2, the team did not use a reset timeout in the final seconds, a moment that drew plenty of attention. 

Afterward, DeMarco said he expected to return in 2027. Stewart, when asked about his future, said, “Those decisions aren’t ours.”

The team announced his firing on Tuesday.

Now general manager Jonathan Kolb is set to run his fourth coaching search since 2019. Indiana Fever assistant Briann January, Duke head coach Kara Lawson, and Lakers assistant Lindsey Harding were some names that have been put forward for consideration.

Other reports have mentioned Kristi Toliver and Teresa Weatherspoon, though New York has not announced a shortlist. ESPN’s Alexa Philippou said the team may want to take its time and look at someone with more experience in the women’s game.

From the locker room in Indiana, to the hallway, to the film room the next day, the July 18 loss became a starting point for change on the court. Whoever takes over will inherit a star who has said she will speak up, a roster still looking for its identity, and a team that showed it could turn things around once it came together.