{"id":723966,"date":"2026-05-02T18:36:22","date_gmt":"2026-05-02T18:36:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/723966\/"},"modified":"2026-05-02T18:36:22","modified_gmt":"2026-05-02T18:36:22","slug":"chris-demarco-tells-the-post-what-hell-bring-to-liberty-thing-he-learned-most-from-steve-kerr","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/723966\/","title":{"rendered":"Chris DeMarco tells The Post what he’ll bring to Liberty, thing he learned most from Steve Kerr"},"content":{"rendered":"

First-year Liberty coach Chris DeMarco takes a timeout<\/a> for some Q&A with Post columnist Steve Serby, before the WNBA season tips off later this week.<\/p>\n

Q: How would you describe your leadership style<\/a>?<\/p>\n

A: I would say connected. I want my staff connected. I want my players connected on the floor. It\u2019s big for me to build relationships, to build trust. I\u2019ve really tried to bring our words to life in terms of when we\u2019re talking value, culture, identity, really explain what those mean. If the players understand that I care about them and I care about their careers, and they understand that our staff does, then anything we\u2019ll do is to get them better and get this team better, right? We\u2019re not just going to have you go through 20, 30 minutes of some individual work that isn\u2019t going to fit into what we\u2019re doing offensively or defensively. I want to elevate all of our players, and I want to play a lot of people, and I believe in this roster and I believe in the talent and more than anything I believe in the people that they are and their character. It\u2019s in front of \u2019em. I\u2019m honest. I will say what\u2019s on my mind. I will correct if I need to correct. I would rather have the conversation now than later where we want to get ahead of conflict and all that stuff.<\/p>\n

Q: Longtime Golden State Warrior Draymond Green once said of you: \u201cHe\u2019s not afraid of confrontation.\u201d<\/p>\n

A: Draymond said that (laugh)? We spent a long time together.<\/p>\n

Q: Why aren\u2019t you afraid of confrontation?<\/p>\n

A: We\u2019re all trying to win. If you keep the ultimate goal in mind, all that other stuff shouldn\u2019t matter. We\u2019re all trying to win, we\u2019re all trying to get better, we\u2019re all trying to accomplish something. And if there\u2019s a disagreement that\u2019s going to happen it\u2019s not supposed to be smooth. People don\u2019t watch sports because it\u2019s smooth. They watch it because it\u2019s unpredictable. And on your way to doing something special, there\u2019s going to be confrontation. There\u2019s going to be these difficult conversations. And if you sidestep those, everyone\u2019s going to feel it. And then the next thing that comes up there\u2019s going to be like, \u201cOh, we\u2019re not going to address that head-on, we let that other thing go.\u201d It\u2019s all I know, it\u2019s the way I played, it\u2019s the way I coached. We [Warriors] went to six Finals and won four championships and there was confrontation. It\u2019s a competitive league, these are the best players in the world. It\u2019s going to happen.<\/p>\n

New York Liberty head coach Chris DeMarco yells during the first half of a preseason WNBA game against the Indiana Fever at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. on Saturday, April 25, 2026. Heather Khalifa for NY Post<\/p>\n

Q: How do you motivate?<\/p>\n

A: I don\u2019t think a lot of players need these motivational tactics at times. I think you want to motivate the team as a whole when it could be like you have a back-to-back and people are tired and how are we going to find a way to win this game? Or it\u2019s like things aren\u2019t going your way second, third quarter, are we going to be able to turn this thing around? I think those are like motivational moments more than it is everyday like rah rah, this has to be the best day of our lives, right? The players have gotten here, they\u2019ve obviously been motivated to be the best in the world. And so I think for us as a staff and me personally, the motivation comes in, alright, maybe the energy\u2019s not right today, how are we going to get it right? And maybe that\u2019s shifting the rotation in a game. Maybe that\u2019s playing a different way. Maybe motivating them is giving them a clearer picture of how they can succeed.<\/p>\n

Q: What won\u2019t you tolerate?<\/p>\n

A: The non-negotiables? I hate anybody being late. I\u2019m a be-on-time guy. I think the energy piece is important, we want positive energy. I\u2019ve talked to [Nets coach] Jordi Fernandez about this, about the two types of energy, positive or negative, there isn\u2019t a third. The third non-negotiable, it\u2019s the competition piece. That\u2019s why we\u2019re all here. If you want to be out there on the floor, if you want to earn minutes, it\u2019s about competing for those minutes and competing for those opportunities.<\/p>\n

Q: The traits of the ideal Chris DeMarco basketball player.<\/p>\n

A: I\u2019ll give you what I want our identity to be. I want our identity first and foremost, we have to compete. Secondly, we have to be unselfish. Then lastly we have to be connected. Those are the three things, that\u2019s the type of player I would want to play with.<\/p>\n

Q: Have you spoken to WNBA coaches of the challenge of coaching women?<\/p>\n

A: I\u2019ve talked to a lot of different current women\u2019s coaches or former. \u2026 I\u2019ve gotten good advice. The majority have said it\u2019s basketball, right? I even had one coach, I\u2019m not going to name their name, said she had gone from a men\u2019s professional league to then a women\u2019s college team, and she had said it wasn\u2019t men and women for her. The hardest thing for her was pro-college. And that stuck with me because I\u2019m going pro-pro. I\u2019ve obviously taken advice from everybody and I\u2019ve listened to a lot of people, including like our Liberty legends and everything, but so far for camp it feels like any camp I\u2019ve been a part of as a coach, but I\u2019m just moving from that assistant coaching chair and now the head coach, right?<\/p>\n

New York Liberty Head Coach Chris DeMarco participates in a clinic with Uncommon Excellence Girls Middle School at a welcome event for Satou Sabally at the Brooklyn Basketball Training Center, Friday, April 17, 2026, in Brooklyn, NY. Sabally is a WNBA three-time All-Star. Corey Sipkin for the NY POST<\/p>\n

Q: What do you like best about your team?<\/p>\n

A: I like the versatility second-best. I like the championship pedigree first (laugh). I was a part of that Warriors team where we hadn\u2019t gotten over the hump before, and I remember how hard it was to get over the hump, and when we did, what that finally meant for us going forward. You\u2019ve felt it, you\u2019ve seen it, you know what it takes, and we have some of that in the locker room. If it hasn\u2019t been at the WNBA level, we\u2019ve had a lot of that internationally, we\u2019ve had a lot of that at the college level. We have players here who\u2019ve won.<\/p>\n

Q: And with that come great expectations.<\/p>\n

A: Embrace \u2019em, right? The biggest thing for me is just finding that consistency each year of giving us a chance the right way through our identity, through the daily grind of competing for a championship. That\u2019s all you can ask for is that we play hard every night, our fans recognize it, our opponents feel it and then we\u2019re in the mix every year to try to win.<\/p>\n

Q: Whatever comes to mind about some of your players: Breanna Stewart.<\/p>\n

A: Swag<\/a> (laugh).<\/p>\n

Q: Sabrina Ionescu.<\/p>\n

A: Focused.<\/p>\n

Q: Jonquel Jones.<\/p>\n

A: Sniper.<\/p>\n

Q: Satou Sabally.<\/p>\n

A: Versatile.<\/p>\n

Q: Betnijah Laney-Hamilton.<\/p>\n

A: Competitor<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Q: What is the most invaluable piece of coaching you took from Steve Kerr?<\/p>\n

A: Having spent 13 seasons with him, almost 14, his messaging was so good. He understood the build of a season, breaking the season into different parts and making sure that we understood it was a marathon, right? I think the culture of being able to come in the building wanting to be there every day, whether it\u2019s from the staff or the players, it was a really, really competitive environment. \u2026 But it was also joyful and compassionate. Whether it was the team dinners, whether it was bringing different people in to speak, whether it was just in between the practice and the lifting and the treatment, it felt like a family all the time. And then lastly, just his ability to adjust. He would always do what was best for the team.<\/p>\n

Q: Other coaches you admired?<\/p>\n

A: There\u2019s too many. I don\u2019t want to disrespect anybody (laugh). I spent time around a lot of future head coaches. Mark Jackson had a very large influence on me in my first two seasons. Mark gave me a platform to be able to have a voice even in my early years that gave me the confidence to think I could become a head coach, right? I\u2019m doing my first-year intern and he\u2019s asking me who I feel are the top five point guards in the league, and I\u2019m telling him who the five are and he\u2019ll challenge it, and what do I do, is I have to do my research to make sure that I have the right evidence behind what I\u2019m saying. \u2026 If he\u2019s staying at the facility all day, so at 9 o\u2019clock we have League Pass on and I can ask him basketball questions. \u2026 We had a lot of head coaches come through \u2014 Michael Malone was on that early staff, Luke Walton, Mike Brown, Willie Green, Kenny Atkinson.<\/p>\n

New New York Liberty head coach Chris DeMarco addresses a press conference at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, Tuesday, December 10, 2025. DeMarco met with the New York media during a press conference. JASON SZENES\/ NY POST<\/p>\n

Q: What do you recall about Mike Brown?<\/p>\n

A: Mike\u2019s very detailed and he really knows the game. The players really respect him.<\/p>\n

Q: Describe your one-on-ones in practice with Kevin Durant.<\/p>\n

A: You\u2019re young, you\u2019re coming up, the cool part of the job is still being able to compete against the best in the world. I\u2019m one of many who\u2019ve tried to defend him in practice. Really they just needed a body and I happen to be 6-[foot]-6 and I tried to be physical, that\u2019s all that was.<\/p>\n

Q: Steph Curry.<\/p>\n

A: His skill, and who he is as a person just touched so many people in that organization. Gave a lot of people, not just myself, opportunities. And not just him, obviously Klay [Thompson], Draymond, [Andre] Iguodala, you mentioned K.D., all these players, their greatness allowed so many people in the organization these incredible opportunities to be in basketball and grow in basketball. Like to see their performances, what it did for the Bay Area and those fans.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCovering the Liberty like never before\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSign up for Madeline Kenney’s Inside the Liberty, a weekly Sports+ newsletter.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\tThank you\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Q: Who are coaches outside of basketball who you admire?<\/p>\n

A: I spent some time with Brandon Staley, who\u2019s defensive coordinator with the Saints. I was there for their training camp when he was with the Chargers. I learned a lot from that training camp, some of the stuff I still use today. It\u2019s such a long list of people.<\/p>\n

Q: Were you a Packers fan growing up?<\/p>\n

A: My dad is from Long Island, I lived on Long Island before I moved to [Appleton] Wisconsin. Some of the more popular things \u2014 ice fishing, hunting, the Packers \u2014 because I went to a lot of sporting events with my father, I didn\u2019t gravitate toward that. If the Buffalo Bills got bounced, then I\u2019d support the Packers. My dad was a Bills fan. I liked what he liked.<\/p>\n

Q: Describe the influence your father Sal had on you.<\/p>\n

A: My father was my best friend. He was a coach himself. I had two older brothers, and they wanted to play football, baseball, basketball, so he would get VHS tapes, and he\u2019d watch those tapes and he taught himself how to coach. And he was a youth coach for not just my brothers and my younger sister and myself, but for the entire community in Appleton, Wisconsin, for about 15 years. He coached baseball, he coached basketball, he coached football. \u2026 He was so demanding in-game. He was vocal in what he wanted, but he cared so much about the kids that he was able to coach them hard because they knew he cared.<\/p>\n

Q: Could imagine how proud he is of you right now?<\/p>\n

A: It\u2019s obviously not the only reason why this means so much to me coming back to New York, being the head coach of this incredible organization and franchise. New York was in my heart my whole life, and fortunately, I was able to FaceTime him when we won in \u201915 with the Warriors, which was a really cool moment. I was able to share in some of the successes of me becoming a coach with him still. \u2026 I was thinking about my family and the sacrifices that they made for me to get there. I was just so thankful to them to allow me to have been in this position.<\/p>\n

Q: Describe coaching the Bahamas National Team.<\/p>\n

A: Pride. From where we started to having a chance to go to the [Paris] Olympics in the fourth quarter, and just the grind and sacrifice it took from everybody who was a part of that. When you\u2019re talking about resources, it\u2019s not the same as some of these other teams that we had to compete against. We\u2019re talking about a country of 400,000 people. Just so proud. And proud of our NBA players and NCAA players to be a part of something that meant so much to the country, and for the players before them, the Mykal Thompsons, Bahamians and Rick Fox that didn\u2019t get a chance to play for the Bahamas because there wasn\u2019t a team. I feel like there\u2019s an incredible opportunity going forward of sustained success for the Bahamas National Team on the men\u2019s side, and obviously Jonquel being here.<\/p>\n

Q: Was your boyhood dream to play in the NBA?<\/p>\n

A: Probably, but realistically I wanted to go to Europe and play. \u2026 You just always want to keep playing at the next level, and that was always my dream. Honestly, I didn\u2019t know it coaching was a part of that, but the second I started coaching I realized it was in me, and shoutout to my father obviously, and my mother by the way, she was at all the games, she used to keep the box scores. She\u2019s very knowledgeable about the game.<\/p>\n

Q: Edgewood College and Dominican University.<\/p>\n

A: I made a lot of lifelong friends at Edgewood, some of my best friends to this day. And then at Dominican, I found my love of basketball again. I lived next to Dominican the past six years. Marin County\u2019s home for me.<\/p>\n

Q: How long did you spend at Isilon?<\/p>\n

A: Isilon was a data storage company that EMC bought and it was a company out of Seattle. And really, if it wasn\u2019t for my boss Tara Dezao. I wouldn\u2019t even be here right now because at the time, I could barely afford to live my first year at the Warriors, and Tara allowed me to still do all this work at home. I had the internship at the Warriors, I did however many hours a week for Isilon and then I bartended to get through that first year.<\/p>\n

Q: What drives you?<\/p>\n

A: I\u2019m passionate. There\u2019s nothing like still being able to compete. There\u2019s nothing like it.<\/p>\n

Q: Biggest adversity?<\/p>\n

A: As a player I had back surgery at 18. I ruptured a disc. In life, off the court, it was the passing of my father 10 years ago.<\/p>\n

Q: Aside from going to Jones Beach, any Long Island memories?<\/p>\n

A: Besides seeing family and estimated pizza and bagels, not really. \u2026 I\u2019ve gone to Wo Hop, 17 Mott Street, my whole life. And then there\u2019s that outdoor court like a block away, there\u2019s always people hooping out there.<\/p>\n

New York Liberty Head Coach Chris DeMarco participates in a clinic with Uncommon Excellence Girls Middle School at a welcome event for Satou Sabally at the Brooklyn Basketball Training Center, Friday, April 17, 2026, in Brooklyn, NY. Corey Sipkin for the NY POST<\/p>\n

Q: Favorite movie?<\/p>\n

A: \u201cA Bronx Tale.\u201d<\/p>\n

Q: Favorite entertainer?<\/p>\n

A: I\u2019m just a massive fan of comedy in general. I like improv and I like going to see comedians.<\/p>\n

Q: Favorite meal?<\/p>\n

A: Aji de gallena, it\u2019s a Peruvian dish, it\u2019s pretty classic.<\/p>\n

Q: What\u2019s so great about Brooklyn?<\/p>\n

A: The community. \u2026 It just feels like a family.<\/p>\n

Q: Your message to Liberty fans?<\/p>\n

A: I understand what this means to the community. I understand what this means to the fans. We have the best fans in the WNBA. I can\u2019t wait for the games to start.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"First-year Liberty coach Chris DeMarco takes a timeout for some Q&A with Post columnist Steve Serby, before the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":723967,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3786],"tags":[7,63356,479,164,4025,4024,6,3801,6078,66,198,255,458],"class_list":["post-723966","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golden-state-warriors","tag-basketball","tag-chris-demarco","tag-golden-state","tag-golden-state-warriors","tag-goldenstate","tag-goldenstatewarriors","tag-nba","tag-new-york-liberty","tag-serbys-qa","tag-sports","tag-sports-columnists","tag-warriors","tag-wnba"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116506432939178613","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/723966","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=723966"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/723966\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/723967"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=723966"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=723966"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=723966"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}