Bill Laimbeer, who is happy to be back as NY's coach, won't have GM duties. (Getty)

The New York Liberty of the WNBA has rehired Bill Laimbeer as coach Thursday, nearly three months after they chose not to exercise the option year on his contract, according to the Associated Press.

"At the end of the season we wanted to take a look and do a full review where we were as a franchise as a basketball team," said Kristin Bernert, who is the senior vice president of business operations for the Liberty. "We started down a path of evaluation and hit a point where we needed to make a decision on Bill's contract option. We weren't ready to make a decision at that point. We continued on the path of diving deep into who we are, where we are and who we want to be. We were on the right path and wanted to bring Bill back as head coach."

The Liberty missed the playoffs the past two seasons and were 26-42 under Laimbeer, who is happy to be back coaching the team.

"They called and said we want to chat about you coming back and being coach, I said I'm all for that," Laimbeer said in a phone interview Thursday. "I knew we were going in the right direction, I thought that it takes time and nothing happens overnight."

Laimbeer led the Detroit Shock to three WNBA titles as the team's general manager and coach from 2002-09. He will no longer hold the role of general manager with the Liberty, with Bernert taking over the role of GM.

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WNBA's Liberty rehire Bill Laimbeer as coach