The Liberty Are Climbing. The Question Is Whether They Started Too Late.
Jonquel Jones has every MVP there is. The team is 17-13 and 2.5 games back. Time is not their friend.
Sabrina Ionescu went for 27 and 10 on Friday night. The Liberty beat Phoenix 94-92. They're 17-13 now, up from 16-13. Progress.
But diddja notice where they're sitting? Fourth in the East. 2.5 games back. Indiana is 19-10 and rolling. Atlanta is 18-10. Washington is 16-12. The defending champs, the team with Jonquel Jones and Breanna Stewart and Ionescu, the team that just watched its center complete the only MVP Grand Slam in WNBA history — that team is looking up at three squads in its own conference.
The Kid pulled the standings: Minnesota leads the league at 24-6. Vegas is 20-9. The top of the league is separating. The Liberty are fighting for playoff seeding, not home court.
Jones completed something historic per the wire — regular season MVP (2021), Finals MVP (2024), Commissioner's Cup MVP (2023), All-Star MVP (2026). No one's ever won all four. The individual case for a repeat Finals MVP is as strong as it's ever been. But the team has to get there first.
The 2-7 stretch before the All-Star break is the ghost in the room. FanSided reported they 'struggled to start games,' falling into deficits and clawing back. That's a preparation issue, not a talent issue. You don't struggle to start games when you have Stewart and Ionescu and Jones unless something is off in the building.
Friday's win was good. Ionescu looked sharp. Han Xu gave them 17 off the bench. But 17-13 with a 5-5 record in the last 10 is not defending-champion form. It's wildcard-and-hope form.
I'm ticking the Finals MVP position up to 0.44 because the team is moving in the right direction. But the position only resolves if they make the Finals. At 17-13 and 2.5 back, that's not a given. The climb is real. The question is whether they started too late.