For many fans, Betnijah Laney-Hamilton was the New York Liberty. The team's recent success overshadows the fact that, for a while there, they weren't very good. Big names weren't exactly circling New York as a desirable destination, but Laney-Hamilton took on the challenge and embraced the city with open arms.
After being named the league's Most Improved Player in 2020, Laney-Hamilton signed with the 2-20 Liberty as a highly sought-after free agent, allowing the front office to also bring in Natasha Howard and Sami Whitcomb, ushering in the new era of Liberty basketball. Laney-Hamilton dropped 30 points in the 2021 season opener against the Indiana Fever and followed it with seven consecutive 20+ point games, dazzling fans and leading New York to 10 more wins than the year before.
Fast forward two years. In the blink of an eye, the Liberty sign Breanna Stewart and Jonquel Jones–two of the W's premier bigs–and are suddenly a superteam, completed by now-healthy 2020 No.1 overall pick Sabrina Ionescu. Laney-Hamilton went from being the franchise's saving grace to a fourth option, but the guard took it in stride and dedicated herself to doing whatever she could for the team to succeed.
And succeed they did. Just a year later, in 2024, Laney-Hamilton and the Liberty won the inaugural franchise's first ever WNBA Championship, and her defensive tenacity, leadership instincts, and ability to score when necessary were a big reason why. Stewart, Jones, and Ionescu stuffed the score sheet every night, but Laney-Hamilton was, for so many, the driving force of that championship team.
Now, just two years later, the franchise looks like its relationship with the guard couldn't be further from what it was. Laney-Hamilton has only played in 17 of the Liberty's games in 2026, collecting several DNPs, and has only started in five; on any given night in the past month or so, you might have been able to hear "We Want Laney" chants fill Barclays Center, landing heavily on the shoulders of everyone in attendance. The whole ordeal came to a bitter end when, on August 6th, the Liberty announced that they had waived Laney-Hamilton after not moving her before the trade deadline. The fallout from fans has been real.
It's a business, but are there limits?
From strictly a basketball perspective, the move could make sense. In a corresponding move, the Liberty signed French guard Marine Fauthoux to a multi-year deal, locking down the young talent who undoubtedly has the potential to be a great player in this league for years to come. As sad as it is, sometimes fan favorite status can't be the only thing tying a player to a roster.
This saga feels different, though. From Laney-Hamilton telling the press multiple times that she wasn't informed that she wouldn't be playing on a given night to coach Chris DeMarco failing to give a concrete answer to why exactly she was wasting away on the bench (especially during the stretches were the team needed her defense most), this doesn't feel like how you treat a player who's done as much for you as Laney-Hamilton has for the Liberty.
Oddly enough, the two-year-old Golden State Valkyries seem to have a better grasp than the Liberty on these matters, despite the latter having been a functioning entity in this league for its entire 30-year stint. The Valkyries, who are exceeding expectations greatly, made no moves at the trade deadline, and one words continues to come up in the conversation about why: chemistry.
GM Ohemaa Nyanin, who's received her fair share of criticism for how the Flau'jae Johnson/Marta Suarez debacle was handled during the 2026 draft, told Kenzo Fukuda of ClutchPoints that continuity and culture were "huge" in the front office's decision to stay put ahead of the deadline.
"We've been very consistent in our messaging, both in the locker room and externally, in how we value our athletes, who they are, what they bring on court specifically, and especially off court," Nyanin said. "How they've come together, how they leaned it into each other, how they've held each other accountable in tough times and in good times has been really remarkable."
I don't envy any WNBA GM these days. Women's basketball fans are so special in the way that they uplift and bond with players, but that makes decisions like these so much harder. Where's the line between catering to the fan culture and building towards winning?
As Nyanin made clear, that line, in my eyes, is respect and value. If Laney-Hamilton simply wasn't right for the job anymore, I bet Liberty fans–who like to win above all else–would have found a way to cope with the loss. But when you pair the guard being left in the dark with the other plethora of questionable decisions and results coming from the Liberty this year, you're asking for outrage.
The funny thing about sports is that, no matter how ridiculous a move looks in the moment, if it works, the fans will forgive. Liberty GM Jonathan Kolb is probably banking on this being the case. As Nyanin said, “If you're going to make a change, you better be right.”
Add us as a preferred source on Google