Satou Sabally will be away from the New York Liberty for a little bit as she recovers from a head injury that has already kept her out for seven weeks. Chris Demarco said on Thursday that this is her second significant head injury in the past 12 months, and the team is not giving a timetable for her return.
The update matters now because Sabally’s absence is no longer a one-game issue. She was changed from concussion protocol to head on Aug. 12, a sign the Liberty are still managing the aftermath of the injury rather than closing the book on it. Demarco said the team’s focus is health and that it hopes to get her back, but for now she remains away from the group.
Sabally’s latest setback began on June 23, when she exited the Liberty’s 87-76 win over the Las Vegas Aces after being elbowed in the face by NaLyssa Smith. She was called for a loose-ball foul on the play, then returned at the start of the second quarter and stayed in for nearly four minutes before leaving again. In all, she played eight minutes, finishing with one assist and one block.
That brief return makes the current absence harder to read. Sabally had already come back on June 23 after the initial hit, but she has still been unavailable for seven weeks overall. The injury also lands against a less forgiving backdrop: she suffered a concussion in Game 3 of the 2025 WNBA Finals while playing for the Phoenix Mercury, missed the second season of Unrivaled during the offseason because of lingering concussion symptoms and has already spent time out this season for reconditioning, a cyst and an illness.
When she has been on the floor, Sabally has given the Liberty useful production, averaging 10.4 points, 2.8 rebounds and 1.9 assists in 13 games while shooting 45.9% from the floor and 38.5% from 3-point range. But those numbers now sit beside a much more immediate concern for the Liberty: a key player who has been productive when available and unavailable too often to know when she will return. For now, the best answer is the simplest one — she is out, the team is waiting, and the next update may be the only one that matters.
