Liberty general manager Jonathan Kolb on Sunday publicly backed free agent Natasha Cloud, who remains unsigned a week into WNBA training camps.
Speaking to reporters at his annual preseason press conference, Kolb lauded Cloud for being “a phenomenal teammate” and an “awesome human being.”
“She’s a phenomenal basketball player,” Kolb said. “She belongs in the WNBA.”
The Liberty traded two first-round picks for Cloud last March just weeks after the Mercury dealt the veteran guard to the Sun as part of a four-team trade that brought Satou Sabally to Phoenix.
Cloud, 34, was initially viewed as a replacement starting point guard for Courtney Vandersloot, who left the Liberty in free agency. Cloud’s addition became even more important after Betnijah Laney-Hamilton underwent season-ending knee surgery about two weeks after the trade.
Cloud, a 10-year veteran and 2019 WNBA champion, helped the Liberty to a franchise-best 9-0 start. She averaged 10.1 points, 5.1 assists and 3.7 rebounds in 41 games, tied for the second most on the team last season.
Ultimately, the backcourt pairing of Sabrina Ionescu and Cloud wasn’t as seamless as the Liberty had hoped. After New York’s first-round exit, Kolb said the team would reevaluate Ionescu’s role and her ideal backcourt partner.
The Liberty had versions of their 2026 roster that included Cloud. But her return likely would’ve required her taking a pay cut (in terms of taking less cap space than 2025) and coming off the bench.
Once free agency started, the Liberty secured a major pickup, signing Sabally to a two-year deal that all but shut the door on Cloud’s return to Brooklyn.
“I just want to make that clear: what really happened here, for us, really wasn’t about fit,” Kolb said. “It’s about our targets in free agency and the condensed nature of free agency, how quickly things really move, but also it probably felt like they took a while, too, because when you’re in the dark on things and we’re pursuing other opportunities, it probably doesn’t feel good.
“So for me, I just want to get that out there. Tash is amazing. Look at what she did, she’s a New York legend in one year here because of who she is off the floor, but also on it.”
Kolb went out of his way to “dispel” speculation that Cloud wasn’t a good teammate in New York or that she wasn’t re-signed by the Liberty because of her pro-Palestine and anti-ICE activism.
“One of the best parts of my job is being able to have relationships with these players, build those relationships, curate those relationships,” Kolb said. “One of the ones that I’m most proud of is mine with Natasha. What she stands for is what I stand for. I believe in speaking up for the voiceless. There is no better embodiment of that than Natasha Cloud, and she puts her life on the line every single day with saying what she believes.”
