The New York Liberty are being honored with a ticker-tape parade through the streets of Manhattan on Thursday to celebrate their first-ever WNBA title
The Liberty, who finished first during the 2024 regular season, won 67-62 in overtime in Game 5 against the Minnesota Lynx to claim the franchise’s first championship on Sunday.
Their title-clinching victory was the most watched WNBA Finals game since 1999 and thousands of fans lined the streets in Downtown Manhattan on Thursday to celebrate with them.
Sabrina Ionescu, Breanna Stewart and their teammates will go up the Canyon of Heroes along Broadway from Battery Place to City Hall.
Floats, music and confetti are expected during the ticker-tape parade, which is just the third to be held for a women’s sports franchise in New York.
Sabrina Ionescu holds up the WNBA trophy as the New York Liberty celebrated on Thursday
Thousands of Liberty fans lined Broadway to celebrate the team’s first-ever WNBA title
The bus drove past the iconic Wall Street bull on its way up Broadway past thousands of fans
Liberty player Jonquel Jones holds the finals MVP trophy aloft as thousands of fans celebrate
Liberty player Breanna Stewart and her family attend the ticket tape parade in Manhattan
Spectators throw confetti from a balcony above the parade route and unfurl their own banner
Fans from the buildings above threw confetti down towards the team as they went along
Governor Kathy Hochul and Mayor Eric Adams took time out of their schedules to be involved
Once they arrive there will be a ceremony afterwards in front of 3,500 people at City Hall Plaza. Mayor Eric Adams will give the team the keys to the city.
There will also be a party and ceremony at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn – the team’s home arena – later on Thursday night.
‘At a time when the rest of the country is finally acknowledging the endless talent in our WNBA, we are proud to have New York City bring home the trophy,’ Mayor Eric Adams said in a statement this week.
‘To our WNBA champions, thank you for being a role model to our city, and showcasing the values of grit, determination, and hard work.’
Star player Breanna Stewart and her wife Marta Xargay Casademont continued to celebrate after a ‘terrifying’ couple of weeks for the couple.
The triumph was extra emotional for the hooping couple after they endured a horrific ordeal earlier this month when Xargay received a threatening message.
The two-time MVP’s wife reported the vile, homophobic email to the NYPD after receiving the threatening message following the Liberty’s loss to the Lynx in Game 1.
More to follow.
Wearing a custom jacket, Ionescu laps up the support from the fans along the parade route
Ecstatic fans hold up banners and t-shirts as they celebrate their heroes’ on-court success
One fan launches confetti into the air as the team drives past on their open top bus
The Liberty won 67-62 in overtime of Game 5 vs Minnesota to claim the franchise’s first title
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