Satou Sabally's lost season continues amid Liberty's sobering injury update

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Back in April, the New York Liberty made a huge free agent splash by agreeing to terms with All-Star forward Satou Sabally.

Sabally, who helped the Phoenix Mercury to the WNBA Finals in 2025, was the final piece of an intimidating Big Four in the Big Apple. Sabally, in her prime at 28 years old, would join Sabrina Ionescu, Jonquel Jones and Breanna Stewart as New York pushed to return to the Finals after winning it for the first time in 2024.

But this season has not gone to plan for Sabally or the Liberty.

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Liberty head coach Chris DeMarco on Friday revealed that Sabally would not return to action before the All-Star break as she remained in concussion protocol.

On June 23, Sabally was inadvertently hit in the face by NaLyssa Smith during a game against the Las Vegas Aces. It marked Sabally's second concussion in the past eight months; she suffered her first during the Finals last year, also against the Aces.

A couple of injury updates from Chris DeMarco from practice:

Q: You mentioned the other day that Satou [Sabally]’s starting to recondition as she comes back. Where is she at? Is she symptom-free? I know it's not always linear, but at this point, and is there a timetable on her…

— Myles (@MylesEhrlich) July 17, 2026

Sabally had missed the first four games of 2026 due to a cyst, while a separate illness also cost her several games. In all, she has played just 13 games this season, with only five starts.

Sabally has been productive when she's been able to play. In 16.8 minutes per game, she's averaging 10.4 points on 46 percent shooting, with an impressive 38.5 percent 3-point rate.

But to some degree, this has been the story of Sabally's career. Despite her prodigious ability -- talent that merited her the "Unicorn" nickname -- injuries have limited Sabally to 149 games in seven seasons, an average of 21 per season.

Fortunately for the Liberty, their superior depth and remaining star power has kept them firmly in the playoffs -- albeit with a somewhat-disappointing 13-11 record.

If Sabally can return to health in the season's final weeks, New York will be a scary proposition in the playoffs given its overall talent level.