Leonie Fiebich was restricted to just 21 games this season. The Liberty star was expected to be a key player for the New York Liberty in the 2026 WNBA season, especially coming off the bench, with the Liberty widely projected as a top contender for the title. Instead, injury trouble meant prolonged time on the sidelines for Leonie Fiebich as she watched her team make it to the playoffs, before being swept by the Atlanta Dream.
Watch What’s Trending Now!
Fiebich confirmed on the #BasketballDeutschland podcast that a left metatarsal stress fracture sidelined her for nearly two months of the WNBA season. Leonie Fiebich’s absence dates back to a July 3 home win against the Minnesota Lynx, when she sustained a left foot injury after 36 minutes of play. The Liberty wing identified an awkward in-game foot strike as the cause, which caused next-day soreness but didn’t immediately keep her from completing a shooting session. She later gave an update about the situation.
“I’m feeling good,” Leonie Fiebich said before the Liberty’s 95-94 win over the Sky. “Making progress, getting better every day.”
Fiebich returned to the Liberty on Aug. 22, playing three games before the World Cup hiatus. She subsequently competed for Germany, contributing to the national team’s highest-ever FIBA Women’s World Cup placement, finishing fourth.
Over the course of the season for the Liberty, Leonie Fiebich averaged 8.8 points, 3.0 rebounds, and 2.1 assists per game, shooting 43.2 percent from the field and 41.2 percent from three-point range.
After New York was knocked out in the semifinals by the Dream, the focus shifts to the next season, especially with their new training facility coming up.
New York Liberty’s State-of-the-Art Training Facility Nearing Completion
While the Liberty’s $80 million practice facility remains on track for completion next year, the venue will not be operational in time for the start of the team’s upcoming training camp. Brooklyn Sports & Entertainment Chief Operating Officer Marissa Shorenstein issued a statement Thursday confirming that the overarching construction timeline, initially detailed in March 2025, has not been altered despite the building missing the early-season benchmark.
“While the facility will not be ready for the start of next season, we are working toward delivering what we believe will be among the best training facilities in all of professional sports, and we can’t wait to share it with our players, staff and the community,” Shorenstein said.
According to a league source, Brooklyn Sports & Entertainment, the parent organization of the Liberty, Nets, and Barclays Center, is considering an investment of up to $3 million to construct interim practice facilities. But not everyone is as optimistic as Shorenstein.
Journalist Norman Oder questioned the facility’s projected completion schedule early last month.
“There don’t seem to be legal or similar external challenges to the training facility, which would be built between Ash Street and Newtown Creek, just east of Manhattan Avenue in Greenpoint, at the northern tip of Brooklyn,” Norman wrote. “There just hasn’t been vertical progress, as shown in my photos, taken either from a distance or through windows in the construction fence. Nor has there been a formal groundbreaking ceremony or any announcement of milestones.”
Integrating the Liberty into the HSS Training Center on an interim basis would necessitate logistical retrofitting within the Industry City complex. The Nets’ current developmental footprint occupies the eighth floor of the former Building 19, a space requiring vertical roof expansion a decade ago to satisfy standard basketball operational dimensions.
Apart from this, the Liberty management has some decisions to make vis-à-vis their roster as well.
Entering the offseason, the Liberty possesses significant roster stability, with Breanna Stewart, Jonquel Jones, Sabrina Ionescu, Satou Sabally, and Leonie Fiebich under contract for 2027. With the exception of the retiring Allen, the team’s pending free agents hold either reserved or restricted status.
The front office can retain Astier and Xu, execute minor transactions, and integrate a first-round draft pick to finalize the roster. Given the limited shared court time among the primary core, management has a practical rationale to prioritize continuity and overall health, especially with head coach Chris DeMarco being fired after the playoff loss.
For the fans, the hope is that they have a fully fit squad and a new training facility ready for their next season’s challenge.
