Liberty get unfortunate update on Betnijah Laney-Hamilton injury timeline
03/31/2025 05:04 PM
New York Liberty guard/forward Betnijah Laney-Hamilton will miss five to six months with a knee injury, the team announced on Monday.
Word of Laney-Hamilton’s injury first surfaced earlier this month while she was playing for Unrivaled. After just two games in the new three-on-three league, it was revealed she would miss the remainder of its inaugural season. Now, the Liberty say she underwent surgery earlier this month and should be ready to return to “basketball activity” in five to six months.
That means the best-case scenario for Laney-Hamilton would be a return in late August or early September. The Liberty will close the regular season on September 11 at the Chicago Sky before likely heading to the playoffs to try to defend their WNBA championship.
This will be the third time in four years that Laney-Hamilton’s season has been substantially impacted by knee surgery. In 2022, she underwent an arthroscopic partial meniscectomy on her right knee and played in just nine games. She underwent another minor procedure last season, using the Olympic break to recover. She still missed 12 games but returned for the postseason where she averaged 27.3 minutes per game.
WNBA training camp opens on April 27 and the Liberty will officially begin their title defense on Saturday, May 17 against the Las Vegas Aces.
The Liberty’s recent additions are more important than ever amid Betinjah Laney-Hamilton’s injury woes
News that Laney-Hamilton will miss an extended period of time comes after the Liberty traded for Natasha Cloud and re-signed Marine Johannes.
Johannes is a career 40% three-point shooter and will look to shoulder some of the scoring load that Laney-Hamilton leaves behind. She played three seasons for the Liberty between 2019 and 2023, and last year helped lead the French national team to the silver medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
The Liberty also traded for Natasha Cloud, sending the Connecticut Sun their 2025 and 2026 first-round picks in return. Cloud could take on the starting point guard role, sliding into the spot Courtney Vandersloot occupied during the regular season last year. The veteran is entering her 10th season in the WNBA and averaged 11.5 points and 6.9 assists last year for the Phoenix Mercury.
She’s also a strong perimeter defender and has made the WNBA all-defensive first or second team three times in her career. The Liberty were one of the best defensive teams in the WNBA last year and adding Cloud will make up for hte loss of elite defender Laney-Hamilton.
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