The Liberty are scheduled to open their WNBA title defense May 17 when they host the Las Vegas Aces at Barclays Center.
The Liberty are planning to commemorate the 2024 team’s triumph at their season opener, the team announced Monday afternoon along with the release of its 2025 regular-season schedule.
As the Liberty set their sights on becoming only the fourth WNBA team to win back-to-back titles, they will have to navigate arguably the most demanding WNBA regular season to date.
WNBA teams are playing a league-record 44 games next season — up from 40 in 2024. Each team will play an even split of 22 home and away games.
There also will be a brief break in the schedule for All-Star weekend festivities, which are scheduled to happen July 18-19 in Indianapolis.
Here’s what else you need to know about the Liberty’s 2025 slate:
Finals rematch
The WNBA knows what people are eager for: a rematch of the dramatic 2024 WNBA Finals between the Liberty and Minnesota Lynx. But fans will have to wait a few months for the two teams to square off.
The Lynx and Liberty won’t go head-to-head until July 30, when the Liberty play at Minnesota, the first of four meetings between the two in a three-week span.
The Lynx won’t make their return to Barclays Center, where they lost a winner-take-all Game 5 in heartbreaking fashion, until Aug. 10.
The final two games of the Liberty and Lynx regular-season series are scheduled for Aug. 16 at Minnesota and Aug. 19 at New York.
Other games to note
- The Liberty and Aces, who have have built up quite the history and rivalry in recent postseasons, will go head-to-head a total of three times. After the season-opening meeting, the Liberty will host A’ja Wilson & Co. again on July 8 before concluding the regular-season series in Las Vegas on Aug. 13.
- The expansion Golden State Valkyries will play their inaugural games at Barclays Center on May 27 and 29. The Liberty will make two trips to San Francisco — on June 25 and Sept. 2.
- The Dallas Wings, who have the No. 1 pick of the 2025 WNBA Draft, will make their lone trip to Barclays Center on Aug. 5. Many believe the Wings will take Connecticut star Paige Bueckers with the pick.
- Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever are slated to play at Barclays Center on July 16 and 22. Last season, the Liberty went 3-1 against the Fever. In those four meetings, Clark, the rookie phenom, averaged 13.3 points on 36.5% shooting.
Commissioner’s Cup details
Pool games for the WNBA’s fifth annual Commissioner’s Cup will be played during a 17-day stretch, starting June 1.
The Liberty will play at home against the Connecticut Sun (June 1), Chicago Sky (June 10) and against the Atlanta Dream (June 17). They will go on the road to face the Washington Mystics (June 5) and the Fever (June 14) .
The teams from each conference with the top record in Cup games will compete for their share of a $500,000 prize pool. The in-season tournament’s presenting sponsor, Coinbase, has also pledged $120,000 in cryptocurrency to the prize pool, including a $5,000 payout for each player in the championship game, which will be played July 1.
The Liberty have qualified to compete for the Commissioner’s Cup title three times, and they won it all in 2023 when Jonquel Jones was crowned the Cup’s Most Valuable Player. Last season, the Liberty fell to the Lynx in the Commissioner’s Cup final.
Additional scheduling tidbits
The Liberty will spend most of July in Brooklyn for a season-long eight-game homestand that will run from July 3-26.
The schedule also includes two four-game road trips. The first is scheduled to be played from June 22-29 with stops in Seattle, San Francisco, Phoenix and Atlanta. The second long road trip is scheduled from July 28-Aug. 3, when the Liberty will play at Dallas, Minnesota and Connecticut (twice).
August will be the Liberty’s busiest month with 14 games.
The Liberty will conclude their regular season in Chicago on Sept. 11.