The New York Liberty have a home game on Sunday afternoon in Brooklyn against the Connecticut Sun. At least, that’s what the schedule says. Delta Airlines might have other ideas about it.
The Liberty already were on a rough road trip, which started with a flight that was supposed to leave New York on Thursday at 2:00 p.m. After nine hours at the airport as major thunderstorms rolled through, that flight was canceled, and the Liberty wound up arriving in Indianapolis at 11:30 a.m. on Friday morning… seven and a half hours before game time.
That the Liberty even managed to be competitive with the Fever in an 82-69 loss is remarkable, as anyone who’s tried to function as a human being the day after such a travel nightmare can attest. But the real kick in the pants came as the Liberty tried to return to New York and prepare for that game against Connecticut.
Another flight delay. And then word from Delta Airlines that the Liberty would have to stay overnight again in Indianapolis. As Jazmine Jones tweeted, BRUH THERE IS NO FREAKING WAY!!!
Assuming that the rescheduled flight goes off without a hitch, the Liberty would step off a plane at LaGuardia Airport at 9 a.m., about five hours before their scheduled tip-off with the Sun. Would they even have time to go home and drop off their bags before heading to Brooklyn for their second game in three days amid multiple travel nightmares? And again, that’s if the Liberty get out of Indianapolis on time on Sunday — there are thunderstorms in the forecast on and off throughout the weekend there.
The WNBA’s collective bargaining agreement guarantees “Premium Economy class status (such as Comfort/Economy Plus) for all players for regular-season air travel.” But so long as teams are flying commercial instead of getting chartered flights, this kind of scenario is bound to happen.
In the meantime, the league needs to reschedule the Liberty-Sun game, because it’s ludicrous to expect anyone to spend all this time stuck in airports, then roll in off the tarmac and try to play sports at an elite professional level — if they even make it back to New York in time to play.
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