There have been some astonishing streaks in New York sports history:
Joe DiMaggio’s 56-game hit streak. The Islanders’ hockey dominance, resulting in four straight Stanley Cup titles. Carol Blazejowski’s 15-year run as the Liberty’s general manager without winning a WNBA title.
Can you imagine a GM in any other sport in this town getting 15 years to get it right? No way, no how.
Garden management finally decided to extinguish Blaze and bring in a new GM and coach, John Whisenant, who won a WNBA title with the Sacramento Monarchs in 2005.
“I’ve always liked challenges,” said Whisenant, 65. “I still feel like I’m 30. To come here and win a championship … you would think it would have happened [before], because this is the best basketball city in America.”
Winning it this year will not be easy. Not only must Whisenant implement his system, one grounded in defense and rebounding, but he must fill some gaping holes.
The Liberty, who open the season today in Atlanta, recently were shocked to learn power forward Janel McCarville, one of the franchise’s most popular players, would not report, and has been suspended for the season. Center Taj McWilliams-Franklin signed with Minnesota. Star Cappie Pondexter lost about 15 pounds battling severe flu-like symptoms in Russia, where she played professionally.
Poindexter, who won two WNBA titles with Phoenix, said the team can overcome the losses of McCarville and McWilliams-Franklin.
“I’ve been with two quality organizations,” Pondexter said. “I know the feeling. I know what it takes to have a team come together. We are. We want to be together.”
That wasn’t necessarily the case under Blazejowski’s watch. She was a driven and demanding GM who never backed away from trying to make the team a champion, yet she rubbed a lot of players and employees the wrong way.
“They’re two different people,” forward Nicole Powell said of Blazejowski and Whisenant. Powell played for Whisenant in Sacramento.
“No matter why a change is made, that’s always going to be the case,” Powell said. “All that I can say is that it’s a very comfortable atmosphere here. It’s just like it was in Sacramento, except we’re in New York.”
That’s another problem Whisenant and the Liberty, who went 22-12 and advanced to the Eastern Conference finals last season, will have to overcome this season — the home games will be at the Prudential Center in Newark while the Garden is undergoing its transformation into a state-of-the-art facility.
Whisenant must really like challenges, because he’s facing one. He is the franchise’s second GM in 16 seasons, and he is not even sure how the players will get to The Rock, no less how they will play.
“I thought Blaze was a great person, a great competitor,” Pondexter said. “But 15 years and no championship, the franchise wants a title. It’s up to us to deliver.”
lenn.robbins@nypost.com