Heaven can wait.
The New York Liberty’s vaunted $80 million, 75,000 square foot training facility in Greenpoint, announced last May and heralded by the team “as among the best training facilities in all of professional sports,” won’t be ready for the Libs’ training camp which begins in April nor the start of the regular season in May.
Instead, Brooklyn Sports & Entertainment, parent of the Nets, Liberty and Barclays Center, is considering spending up to $3 million to construct temporary training facilities
at HSS Training Center at 168 39th Street in Brooklyn, already home of the Nets training facility and business offices of BSE according to a league source.
Madeline Kenney and Brian Lewis of the Post wrote Friday about the delay:
When the Liberty announced the project plans in March 2025, the team expected the project to be done at some point next year.
That remains unchanged, Brooklyn Sports & Entertainment Chief Operating Officer Marissa Shorenstein said in a statement to The Post Thursday evening.
“While the facility will not be ready for the start of next season, we are working toward delivering what we believe will be among the best training facilities in all of professional sports and we can’t wait to share it with our players, staff and the community,” Shorenstein said.
The team had only described the timeframe for completion as “2027” but officials had hoped to get set up by training camp which begin the last week of April.
There’s been little discussion about why the facility which will be located on Newtown Creek at the end of Greenpoint’s Manhattan Avenue. needs to be delayed, other than the typical issues associated with New York City construction. Norman Oder, who has covered news related to the Nets and Liberty moves to Brooklyn, expressed skepticism about the facility’s schedule early last month as we reported:
There don’t seem to be legal or similar external challenges to the training facility, which would be built between Ash Street and Newtown Creek, just east of Manhattan Avenue in Greenpoint, at the northern tip of Brooklyn.
There just hasn’t been vertical progress, as shown in my photos, taken either from a distance or through windows in the construction fence. Nor has there been a formal groundbreaking ceremony or any announcement of milestones.
Nor are there any financial issues apparent. Brooklyn Sports & Entertainment has said it is financing the cost of the construction in part using the proceeds from the May 2025 sale of a “mid-teens” stake in the WNBA team to Alibaba founder and mega-billionaire Jack Ma and a group of six wealthy sportswomen/celebrities which include among others TV host Robin Roberts; supermodel Karlie Kloss, the wife of new Lakers owner Josh Kushner; and Olivia Walton, an heir to the Wal=Mart fortune.
Should the delay require the Liberty to move in with the Nets at HSS, there would be a need for new facilities. The Nets practice courts are on the eighth and top floor of what was Building 19 of Industry City, the giant bayside facility that’s home to a multitude of small businesses. The Nets raised the roof of the top floor 10 years ago to accommodate high-arcing jump shots and full-court passes. Whether that same level of construction would be required of a temporary Liberty facility is uncertain, said a source familiar with the building. Any renovation would also likely include new locker rooms for the Libs as well.
The Liberty currently practice at the small court off the main entrance of Barclays Center. The WNBA is in the midst of what some had described as an “arms race” among the league’s teams to create the best work environments for players and staff. As Kenney and Lewis note:
The WNBA has seen an arms race over practice facilities and performance centers to attract and retain top talent in recent years.
The days of sharing gyms with colleges, local public rec centers and arenas should soon come to an end.
The Las Vegas Aces, Seattle Storm, Phoenix Mercury, Golden State Valkyries and Portland Fire have all opened standalone facilities.
The Chicago Sky’s $60 million facility is in the late stages of construction after months of delays.
The Indiana Fever, Los Angeles Sparks and Dallas Wings all have facilities in the works.
The Houston Comets are building a dedicated practice facility inside the Toyota Center.
It’s also uncertain how long the Liberty would be at the Nets facility. When finished, the Greenpoint facility promises will include state-of-the art facilities the team promoted in a video released at the time of the announcement…
It is expected to include two indoor courts with advanced camera and tracking technology, an outdoor court, a recovery suite (steam, sauna, massage rooms and a range of the latest in rehab and recovery technologies, including hydrotherapy, hyperbaric chambers, infrared and red-light therapy) and a two-story indoor and outdoor strength-training area.
There will also be spa-like amenities — such as a hair, makeup and nail studio — a rooftop lounge area with views of Manhattan and individual player suites with day beds, wardrobes and vanities.
