The New York Liberty returned to the WNBA Finals Thursday night in pursuit of their first championship in franchise history. Betnijah Laney-Hamilton had a solid all-around performance, helping the Liberty build a 15 point lead in the fourth quarter. Eventually, Minnesota's defense tightened, allowing them to chip away at the deficit and eventually force overtime.
Laney-Hamilton's strong play was part of a balanced Liberty attack, but it wasn't enough to fend off the Lynx's rally. Minnesota's 95-93 overtime win gives them a 1-0 series lead, putting pressure on New York as they head into Game Two. For Laney-Hamilton, this is just another challenge in a career defined by resilience.
Resilience
Laney-Hamilton's road to the finals has been anything but easy. Just four years ago, she was cut from the Indiana Fever. This period of uncertainty lit a fire within Laney-Hamilton. When the Atlanta dream picked her up, she tripled her scoring average and was named the 2020 WNBA Most Improved Player. “I realized who I was and what I was capable of,” Laney-Hamilton told the WNBA as she reflected on that year. That offseason, her hard work and improvement paid off when she signed a three-year contract with the Liberty.
Laney-Hamilton has faced her fair share of injuries as well. She tore her left ACL just a month into her second WNBA season, sidelining her for the rest of 2016 and all of 2017. In 2022, she endured another knee injury during training camp, which required an arthroscopic partial meniscectomy. This year, just before the WNBA Finals, she bounced back yet again, undergoing a minor knee surgery that kept her from playing for multiple weeks.
When asked how these setbacks have shaped her, Laney-Hamilton emphasized how they’ve made her the player she is today. “I've learned how tough I am,” she told ESPN. “There's not much I can't handle. I've been cut, I've dealt with injury after injury. I've been the last person on the team to the top person on the team and everything in between.”
“I've learned how tough I am. There's not much I can't handle. I've been cut, I've dealt with injury after injury. I've been the last person on the team to the top person on the team and everything in between.”
Giving Back
Outside of basketball, Laney-Hamilton is making a difference in her New York community in every way she can. She earned the Dawn Staley Community Leadership Award in 2022 for her outstanding impact on hundreds of kids. Her passion for community outreach was inspired by watching her mother give free basketball lessons to children. “I want to have that same kind of impact,” she said. “When I'm done playing, I want my own daycare centers.”
Beyond the Court
When Laney-Hamilton isn't on the court or in the weight room, she loves shopping, spending time with family, and practicing mindfulness. She starts her day with a few minutes of meditation and prayer, leaning on her faith during times of injury, uncertainty, and stress.
At the end of the day, she loves to unwind by watching a TV show with her husband, enjoying a cup of herbal tea or a glass of wine, and putting on a face mask. “I’m very into skincare, and I’ve gotten my husband into it as well,” she told The New York Times. “So on a Sunday, I’ll do a face mask and just reset for the week. I’m a self-care kind of person.”
Laney-Hamilton’s journey to the WNBA Finals is a testament to the power of resilience, hard work, and unwavering determination. She continues to leave her impact on the New York community, through her outreach, and reminds young athletes the importance of self care. From being cut and sidelined by injuries to making multiple comebacks, she has shown that setbacks are not the end of the story but a chance to rewrite it.
