New York Liberty To Hire Warriors’ Chris DeMarco As Head Coach

November 27, 2025 Margaret Hetherman

DeMarco will be one of eight male head coaches in the WNBA, as the women’s league continues to tap talent from the NBA.

Featured Image: Chris DeMarco via Warriors Instagram

Golden State Warriors’ assistant coach, Chris DeMarco, finalized a multi-year deal with NY Liberty to step into the head coach role vacated by Sandy Brondello who has her eyes set on a new role in Toronto.

DeMarco, 40, has been with the Warriors since 2012 and is credited with helping the team win four NBA titles. He has also been the head coach of the Bahamian senior men’s national team since 2019.

Dalton Johnson, of NBC Sports Bay Area, has described DeMarco as knowing how to keep it light and fun, knowing how to earn respect, and knowing which cardinal rules cannot be broken, regardless of status. He also has a history of building up from the foundation. Case in point: “He was able to take the Bahamas team from nothing to one game from the Olympics,” Bahamas player Buddy Hield once told Johnson.

Other contenders for the Liberty role had reportedly included Brooklyn Nets assistant Will Weaver, former WNBA champion and current Phoenix Mercury associate head coach Kristi Toliver, and Toronto Raptors assistant coach Jama Mahlalela.

This hire marks the fifth WNBA head coach recruitment this offseason. Aside from DeMarco, two others came from the NBA – Alex Sarama with the Portland Fire, and Sonia Raman with Seattle Storm. It’s a growing trend that has some concerned about diversity across the league given that now, eight men hold head coach roles in the WNBA.

Image via Instagram

The news that Sandy Brondello’s contract would not be renewed in 2026 came days after the Liberty fell to the Phoenix Mercury in the first round of the 2025 WNBA playoffs. According to ESPN, while Brondello had four successful seasons and a championship win with the Liberty, she came to believe that the alignment was off between her and Liberty leadership, alluding to a lack of partnership.

Nonetheless, her track record is fierce. Jonathan Kolb, General Manager of New York Liberty said in a press release, “Sandy finishes her tenure in New York as the winningest coach in franchise history, and she took us to never-before-seen heights as the first head coach to lead the Liberty to a championship… ”

A former WNBA All-Star and three-time Olympic medalist, she was named earlier this month as Toronto Tempo’s first head coach, following the expansion of the league to include Canada.

Brondello was head coach of the New York Liberty from 2022–2025, and the Phoenix Mercury from 2014–2021. The Queensland, Australia native has also been head coach of the Australian National Team since 2017, and took them to a bronze medal finish at the 2024 Paris Olympics. She is an Olympian herself, having competed in four Olympic Games playing for Australia and winning three medals (one bronze, two silver). A two-time WNBA Champion (2014, 2024) and WNBA Coach of the Year, this winner was inducted into the Australian Basketball Hall of Fame in 2010.