The 2026 WNBA season had just started, and the NY Liberty had already made changes to their roster. On Friday, the team announced that they had waived guard Julie Vanloo and forward Alex Fowler. It has only been five games since the season started, and the Liberty has already freed up some space.
Vanloo was signed by the team on May 8 on a hardship deal. She appeared in five games, averaging 5.8 points and 5.4 assists on 50.0% shooting from deep. Fowler, meanwhile, signed a developmental player contract with the Liberty on May 14 and played in two games.
During that stretch, she averaged 6.0 points in 15.5 minutes. Fowler’s first WNBA squad was the Liberty.
After the news was announced, WNBA fans erupted online about what the NY Liberty did. Here are some of what the fans said.
“They are clearing out for the Caitlin Clark trade lmao,” a fan said.
“0 pts, 0 rebs, 0 assists, 3 or 4 fouls last night I was like GET HER OFF THE COURT,” another fan commented about Fowler.
“WE ARE FREE BRO YES THANK U (CANT EVEN TELL U HOW MAD I WAS WATCHING HER LAST NIGHT 😭 I LIKE HER AS A PERSON SHE SEEMS SO SWEET BUT JUST PHYSICALLY CANT HANDLE HER TAKING UP A SPOT ON MY TEAM MAN. BRING BACK AUBREY OR ANNELI RN)” one fan said.
Other WNBA fans felt bad for Vanloo.
“There needs to be more teams there’s no way Vanloo should be getting waived every year,” someone commented.
“damn that’s rough….hope other teams can make use of her she is not bad at all,” a comment read.
“That’s horrible cuz of what she went through,” one fan commented.
Satou Sabally Played in Her First NY Liberty Game
Satou Sabally has not been in action since Game 3 of the 2025 WNBA Finals. She suffered a concussion against the Las Vegas Aces last year, and she spent most of her offseason reconditioning herself. Ahead of the 2026 season, she also had to deal with a cyst.
On Thursday night, she played in her most anticipated return and her debut for the NY Liberty. Because of the time she spent away from the court, there was some obvious rust in her game. Sabally played 16 minutes and finished with five points, four rebounds and two assists.
On Monday, Sabally’s return was hinted at when she was with the team during shootaround.
“I’ll do whatever I can and whatever’s asked of me,” Sabally said on Monday. “… It’s also just about really enjoying my minutes out here, and I feel like what happened to me (the concussion in last year’s WNBA Finals) can be really traumatic in a way of — OK, how do you want to play the game?”
Unfortunately for the NY Liberty, they suffered an 87-70 loss to the Golden State Valkyries.
Edited by Reign Amurao
