Liberty owner Tsai vows to fix WNBA's travel issues 'for good'

New York Liberty owner Joseph Tsai says it's time for the WNBA to figure out its long-running issues with travel.

"Enough is enough," Tsai tweeted in response to second-year Liberty guard Jazmine Jones. "I'm going to solve this transportation problem for good."

Jones spent most of Saturday updating fans on the team's attempts to return to Brooklyn from Indianapolis, where the Liberty fell to the Indiana Fever yesterday.

Per Jones, the Liberty's flight was originally scheduled to leave at 11:31 a.m. ET. The departure time was first delayed to 3:30 p.m. and then finally to 7:06 a.m. Sunday - which would have the club arriving at LaGuardia Airport just five hours prior to Sunday's 2 p.m. tipoff versus the Connecticut Sun.

Jones later confirmed the team could fly home Saturday after all.

The WNBA's travel issues came into the national spotlight during the 2018 season. Following a 24-hour, multi-leg travel itinerary, the Las Vegas Aces refused to take the floor for a road game versus the Washington Mystics due to injury concerns. The WNBA ruled the result a forfeit by the Aces - the first in league history.

The players' association negotiated for better travel logistics - including booking only comfort or economy plus seats - when the latest collective bargaining agreement was ratified in early 2020, but teams will continue to use commercial flights for away games.

Tsai is currently the wealthiest WNBA governor with a personal net worth estimated at over $10 billion. However, teams aren't permitted to provide chartered flights - not even the Liberty, one of five WNBA franchises sharing an organization with a private-flying NBA counterpart.

"Getting your team to an away game and back comfortably, safely, and on time is a basic business necessity," Tsai said Saturday. "It's the right thing every owner should do."