Ellie the Elephant: the viral mascot twerking her way into New York lore

The New York Liberty's chaotic, enigmatic, queer-coded mascot is a provocative pachyderm who has served her way to It-Girl status amid her team's chase of a first WNBA title

When the New York Liberty made their pre-game entrance beneath the Barclays Center ahead of the opening game of their WNBA semi-final series against the Las Vegas Aces last month, there was more spirit and swagger on display than at any New York Fashion Week event. Star point guard Sabrina Ionescu was giving quiet luxury in a sage turtleneck and camel-colored blazer. Breanna Stewart, the two-time WNBA Most Valuable Player, called to mind Charli xcx with her black sunglasses and bodacious mane spilling out of a New York or Nowhere baseball hat. But none of them commanded the makeshift catwalk quite like the 5ft 10in long-lashed elephant rocking a zebra-print coat, serving and vamping for her adoring fans with saucy hip-pops and jaunty swings of an umbrella dangling from her wrist.

There are mascots and then there are mascots: those once-in-a-decade unicorns who penetrate the zeitgeist in unpredictable ways. Ellie the Elephant is no brightly colored blob tripping down a court at half-time. She is a dancing phenom - splits and worms and handstands, oh my! - as well as a physical comic genius. Her firecracker energy is synonymous with the rise of a Liberty team that has become the obsession of countless women across the city during their run to the WNBA finals, where they are on the doorstep of becoming the first New York basketball franchise to win a championship in over 50 years.