Training camp is here, and the New York Liberty are back to work! Before the WNBA season officially tips off on May 17, the champs enter training camp looking to answer some key questions.
How will the Liberty make up for Betnijah Laney-Hamilton’s absence?
Since her arrival in 2021, Betnijah Laney-Hamilton has been the heart and soul of the Liberty. She has helped take the team from their hybrid rebuild all the way to the top of New York sports. Her presence, toughness, and excellence has powered the Liberty and has made her a fan favorite. However, the Liberty will have to play most of this season as she is recovering from knee surgery. For Sandy Brondello and the team, they have some options to replace their All Star.
In early 2024, the team acquired Rebekah Gardner from the Chicago Sky in a trade. Gardner tore his Achilles and missed all of last season. She’s been working her way back and is ready to return. When we last saw Gardner on a basketball court, she was an All WNBA caliber defender. Gardner and Kennedy Burke will be essential coming off of the Liberty bench in 2025. KB was a solid hand in 2024 for the Liberty and figures to have a bigger role due to the departure of Kayla Thornton in the expansion draft. In the starting five, a familiar face will take on a much larger role this year.
Leonie Fiebich was one of the Liberty’s best players on their run to the championship. Leo’s combination of size, length, and athleticism turned a great Liberty team into a champion
Over the summer, Breanna Stewart spoke about Fiebich and her amazing play:
“To be a 6’4 guard, it’s easy if there’s… she’s on a post, I’m on a guard, and knowing that she can hold her own. The way that she gets into passing lanes, uses her length. Obviously, a knockdown shooter. Just giving us a heavy dose of what she is as a player, and the versatility [of what she does].”
Fiebich will be the full time starter and take on a bigger role in 2025. She can score in the post, is a terrific three point shooter, is a better passer than you think, and a wonderful defensive player. She became a star in the playoffs, and if she has a repeat performance this year, she’ll become even more of a household name in New York and around the world.
How will the rest of the roster shake out?
The Liberty have superstars leading the way, but there is great talent up and down the roster. It’s a blessing, but a bit of a (slight) curse as well. Due to the small roster sizes, a lot of talented players don’t wind up making teams. As a result, putting a roster together is an arduous task for coaches across the league.
A player a lot of fans will be watching closely is Marquesha Davis. Davis spent most of her rookie season on the bench learning from her teammates and coaching staff. She played overseas in China this winter .475/.313/.790 shooting splits. Davis is at her best when she’s driving downhill and getting to the basket.
The same can be said for her fellow 2024 rookie, Jaylyn Sherrod. Like Davis, Sherrod is at her best when she’s breaking defenders down off the dribble and getting to the rim. Sherrod got to work on her game at Athletes Unlimited and with Team USA in the winter, so she will come into this camp with more confidence in her game.
Two more of New York’s 2024 draft picks will look to break through as well. Kaitlyn Davis played in Puerto Rico and Mexico in 2024 and spent time with Athletes Unlimited in 2025. She will be making her first appearance with the Liberty this year. General Manager Jonathan Kolb sees big things for Davis:
“Her athleticism in the front-court, dynamic playmaking ability, and rim protection make her an exciting future prospect.”
Esmery Martinez will look to build on a good 2024 training camp and make the big club in 2025. Although she didn’t make the final roster, Martinez was able to impress the coaching staff and parlay that into a contract with to play professionally in France. At NetsDaily, Lucas Kaplan broke down Martinez’s game when she was drafted:
“The native Dominican is a defense-first prospect like Davis, though a little bigger at 6’2” with a plus-wingspan. Martinez is an event-creator with a nose for the ball, racking up deflections and feisty rebounds whenever she’s between the lines. It’s not all grit and hustle though, being a true forward that can slide her feet on the perimeter. She played her first three seasons at West Virginia before transferring west, and in her final season as a Wildcat, she was an All-Pac-12 Team Honorable Mention, averaging 11.1 points, 6.3 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 2.0 steals per game.
On offense, she’s not quite a stretch-four, shooting just under 30% on under two attempts a game throughout her collegiate career. However, she can drive the ball out of her face-up game, in addition to being a skilled passer that could work the high-low game the New York Liberty dominated with last season. (Though it does help when it’s Jonquel Jones and Breanna Stewart working it.)“
The Liberty’s length and athleticism are hallmarks of their success, and their 2024 picks will help build on those existing strengths.
We’ll also be saying hello to an old friend. Leaonna Odom was selected by the Liberty in 2020 and played two seasons with the club. She was most known for her hustle and knack for getting to the rim
In 2020, Justin Carter wrote of Odom:
“She’s shown some great recognition for where the ball’s going to go. To make a cross-sport reference, Odom’s like a ball-hawking football safety. She’s not directly covering the players who are in position to grab the defensive board, but when she sense a chance to make a play, she jumps on that chance, gliding in and giving her team another opportunity.”
She hasn’t played in the WNBA since 2021, and this training camp is a great chance for her to make a name for herself and earn a spot on this team.
The Liberty have a lot of top line talent, but the back of the bench will be critical in this unique season.
How will the team manage minutes in an expanded season?
In the 2023 Finals, Breanna Stewart ran out of gas. The MVP couldn’t find her shot and couldn’t find that extra gear to help the Liberty get past the Las Vegas Aces. Throughout ’24, Sandy Brondello and the coaching staff took care to watch her minutes closely. As a result, Stewart played fewer minutes per game in both the regular and post season. It paid off with a championship and Stewart flying all over the court on defense. In 2025, they hope to do it again.
This season, the WNBA will play a record 44 games. The game continues to expand and with that comes a demand for more basketball. In the past, Sandy Brondello has spoken about finding the right balance between playing her starters heavy minutes to establish chemistry while simultaneously not overworking them. Brondello will need to make sure she doesn’t put too much on the shoulders of Stewart, Jonquel Jones, Sabrina Ionescu, and the newly acquired Natasha Cloud throughout the year. When the postseason starts, she’ll be counting on them to play heavy, pressure packed minutes against the league’s best.
Training camp is always an exciting time. And for the reigning WNBA Champions, it’ll be even more exciting this year. The team has improved every year since 2020 and are a perennial title favorite once again. They’ve assembled another tremendous roster and will start ironing things out over the next few weeks. The road back to the WNBA Finals is a long one, but the Liberty are ready to begin laying the foundation of another banner season.