- Fifteen men have been chosen to help the New York Liberty contend for their first WNBA title.
- The practice players include former college stars, semi-pro hoopers, and aspiring trainers.
The New York Liberty have expectations of winning their first-ever WNBA championship this season.
With an impressive roster featuring two former league MVPs and a slew of All-Stars, the Liberty look ready to break through and win New York's first professional basketball title since the 1970s.
But they'll need some help getting there. That's where the Liberty's practice squad comes into play.
Fifteen men have devoted their time to helping New York's superteam prepare for its championship run. From college stars and semi-pros to players still working towards a career in the NBA, the practice players possess the high-level skill and supreme unselfishness necessary to help the Liberty get where they want to be.
The former college stars, semi-pros, and aspiring coaches and trainers who comprise the practice squad gain a lot, too. Not only are they picking up basketball knowledge from true professionals, but they're also witnessing just how remarkable the talent is at the highest levels of women's basketball.
Some of the best basketball players in New York were drawn to the opportunity
Months before the team's 2023 season opener, the Liberty put out a call on social media for players with collegiate or professional level experience to try out for their practice team. The athletes would "participate in day-to-day practice programming including scrimmages, drills, and opponent scouting."
Jamel Harris, a player development expert who trains pros, college players, and kids, knew that working with the Liberty presented an opportunity that could open up doors in his career. Endher Gonzalez recognized that he could "install a lot of their concepts into what my players are looking to do and what we're trying to do as a team" back at the middle school where he coaches.
For Andy Fleurantin, a player-turned-coach for the FDU-Florham Campus Devils, the chance to not only "play with the best of the best" but also learn from the best was too good to refuse.
More than just coaches and trainers were attracted to the opportunity to serve on the Liberty's practice team. For Columbia senior Ryan Kalugdan and recent USF graduate TJ Prather — who now works at sports media company Overtime — the gig was a familiar one; both spent time on the scout teams at their respective colleges, and both were eager to continue into the pros.
And then there's Malik Miller, a 6-foot-9 center who played Division-I and twice competed in March Madness with the Fairleigh Dickinson University Knights. After two years playing professionally overseas, he's aiming to join the NBA's developmental league, the G League.
With the knowledge that this summer could make or break his professional playing ambitions in the states, Miller saw this role with the Liberty as a way to stay ready while pushing his own game to new heights.
"I [can] get a lot from here," Miller told Insider. "Whether it's how they communicate, the verbiage that the coaching staff uses, their intensity."
Liberty staff narrowed down a group of 88 applicants to a 15-man practice squad
Nearly 90 players threw their hat in the ring. After sorting through the applications, the Liberty staff called in a sizeable group for what Assistant Coach Zach O'Brien described as an "evaluation process" to see how they play and think.
"Obviously you want to show that you know the game that you can play the game, but also think the game, too," Gonzalez told Insider. "And the coaches set us up with a couple of plays. They had us running up and down a little bit."
Being on the practice squad "requires a unique personality," O'Brien said. "For them to be able to think on a higher level and understand what we're trying to do at our core and with our foundational stuff with our players, it's unique."
O'Brien cited energy, basketball IQ, and ability to work together as necessary qualities for practice players. Jocelyn Willoughby — a wing for the Liberty — said it's ideal when they have "swag, but not too much ego" and there's a mutual respect between them and the team.
"That's something that is so important when you are a practice player, especially as a male coming into a women's team and professional space," she said. "There can be cases where you have guys who are just trying to show their ego, but it's like, you're not helping us get better at what we need to."
For the 15 men selected for the squad — that's a 17% acceptance rate — learning they'd be suiting up alongside some of the best players on the planet was exhilarating.
But being selected is only the beginning of the hard work.
Facing the top stars in women's basketball came with 'welcome to professional basketball' moments
If any of the newly-minted practice players thought that playing against professionals would be easy because they're women, they quickly learned their lesson.
Several members of the practice squad, including Fleurantin, admitted they didn't expect it to be so physical.
"The first play that I got put into, I remember Jocelyn [Willoughby] came down, set a pick for me in the corner, and she just laid me out almost," Fleurantin recalled. "Just two hands to the chest, one into my sternum, and aired me out a little bit. She came off of the screen, came down, caught it, 1, 2, 3, knock-down three."
"In a sense we have to demand our respect and show them 'No, you're not just gonna come in here and walk over us," Willoughby told Insider.
She wasn't the only one demanding her respect from the practice squad.
Prather remembered "playing good defense" on one trip down the floor and taking a shot to the chest from Richards, who called him "small" after he had the wind knocked out of him. Prather fondly refers to that exchange as his "welcome to professional basketball moment."
Richards victimized Harris, too. After O'Brien warned the practice players to "make sure this is about them" and avoid any hard contact, Harris let up while guarding the 6-foot-2 Liberty guard.
"My defense really showed that the first possession and she noticed it," Harris said. "She shot a three in my face and she said, 'Bang.' And I was like, 'Damn, alright. I see. It's real now.'"
The WNBA players' physicality and competitiveness weren't the only surprises for the practice players. Prather needed time to adjust to their speed on the floor, joking that he has some conditioning to do to keep up.
Gonzalez, meanwhile, was in awe at their shooting form.
"They shoot really fluid. Their form is super textbook," he said. "You'll rarely see misses when they shoot the ball."
The practice players have a message for WNBA haters: 'Have more respect for women's basketball'
Anyone in the world of women's sports is familiar with the sexist, degrading comments that naysayers — usually men — offer in response to social media content involving female athletes, teams, and leagues. The WNBA, in particular, has widely become the butt of trolls' misogynistic jokes.
"This skill level is nowhere near the same as what you would see at a pickup game or something like that," Fleurantin said. "So best believe that Joe Schmo would get smoked — smoked out of the water. I promise."
The practice players agreed the general public — particularly the skeptics — "should just have more respect for women's basketball," as Kalugdan said.
"They don't have to jump over the rim to show that they're a great player," Harris said. "I feel like they're more skilled than male players — sorry guys."