From New York Post · · 1m 20s
How the Liberty spent their World Cup break
With the WNBA on pause for the FIBA World Cup, the Liberty players left behind scattered across beaches, hometowns and Europe.
In brief
With the WNBA on pause for the FIBA World Cup, the Liberty players left behind scattered across beaches, hometowns and Europe. A mid-season break built around an international tournament hands the players who aren't in it a rare stretch of real time off. Originally reported by New York Post.
The league hit pause
The 2026 FIBA Women's World Cup forced an unusual gap in the WNBA schedule, leaving Liberty players who weren't called up with open calendars.
Jonquel Jones went island time
Jones and teammate Rebekah Gardner skipped the gym for the beach, taking the break as a straight vacation.
“Jonquel Jones and Rebekah Gardner went on island time”
Sabrina went home to reset
Ionescu flew back to California to press reset, trading the New York grind for familiar ground mid-season.
A stop at the US Open
Ionescu still made it back to Queens for the U.S. Open, catching tennis instead of playing basketball.
Anneli Maley saw Europe
Maley squeezed in Paris and Berlin, a vacation doubling as a celebration of the WNBA standard contract she just signed.
Rest is part of the job
Beaches, home cooking and European cities are what a break looks like when the season stops but the body still has months to go.
The takeaway
A mid-season break built around an international tournament hands the players who aren't in it a rare stretch of real time off.
