Betnijah Laney to help Liberty bounce back in WNBA Finals - ESPN

LAS VEGAS — Jonathan Kolb was named the 2023 WNBA Executive of the Year after getting Jonquel Jones, Breanna Stewart and Courtney Vandersloot to come to New York this past offseason, an endeavor that involved an international recruiting effort in Turkey in January.

But the New York Liberty's general manager swears he has never worked harder than when he got Betnijah Laney to sign with the team in 2021.

New York was coming off a 2-20 season that year, but Kolb had identified Laney — a 6-foot guard/forward named the 2020 Most Improved Player following a career season with the Atlanta Dream — as the Liberty's highest priority. The organization thought she'd pair well with guard Sabrina Ionescu, New York's No. 1 overall pick in 2020.

«It's hard to speak the vision into existence [after a two-win season], but she really was bought-in during our conversations during that time,» Kolb told ESPN this week. «When we looked at the future free agent classes, she was somebody we would be really fortunate to get at that time.»

Laney's 2021 signing didn't pay off in just that season. For as much attention as New York's newcomers have received this summer, and rightfully so, Laney has been the X factor in the postseason, a massive reason the Liberty are playing in their first Finals since 2002. And for them to overcome an early 1-0 deficit versus the Las Vegas Aces — the series resumes Wednesday (9 p.m. ET, ESPN/ESPN App) — and win the franchise's first championship, they'll have to continue to get tremendous play from her on both ends.

«Laney has been amazing for them. I don't know where they're at without Laney,» Aces coach Becky Hammon said heading into the Finals. "… I mean, I'm a fan."

Few would have foreseen Laney making such a