Offseason news: Betnijah Laney undergoes left knee surgery

On Thursday morning, the New York Liberty announced that 2021 All-Star, Betnijah Laney, underwent successful arthroscopic surgery on her left knee at the Hospital for Special Surgery. From the press release:

The procedure was performed by Dr. Riley Williams and Dr. Benedict Nwachukwu, the Liberty’s orthopedic surgeons, at Hospital for Special Surgery. Betnijah will begin rehabilitation and she is expected to make a full recovery before training camp in 2022.

Laney won’t be doing media interviews about her surgery, but the Queen Bee did thank everyone for the well wishes on the team’s Instagram page announcing today’s news.

The Next Hoops and Bleacher Report’s Jackie Powell noted that the left knee Laney had surgery on is the same knee in which she tore her ACL back in 2016.

Laney had the best season of her pro career in 2021 as she led the team in points, minutes, and appeared in all 32 games for the Liberty as she helped lead them to the playoffs for the first time since 2017. Although the Liberty lost a heartbreaker to eventual Finals runner up, the Phoenix Mercury, she hit one of the biggest shots of the playoffs

Laney is expected to be ready and healthy for the 2022 WNBA season.

Recovery has been the big theme of the Liberty offseason thus far. In addition to Laney’s procedure, 2021 Rookie of the Year, Michaela Onyenwere, underwent surgery to repair the radial collateral ligament in her right thumb. Also, Asia Durr announced this week that she has been cleared for basketball activities after missing two seasons as a result of long haul COVID-19.

As the Liberty heal up, they will be back in 2022 hoping to build upon a successful year. With Laney recharged and leading the way, they’ll have a chance to break into the top tier of the WNBA.