The month-long Olympic break comes at a lucky time for Betnijah Rainey-Hamilton and Liberty.
The Liberty star underwent “minor” surgery on his right knee on Tuesday and is expected to miss four to six weeks, the team announced.
The Liberty team closes out the first half of the WNBA season on Tuesday night against the Sun at Barclays Center, but they will be without Lainie Hamilton, who has missed the past three games with a right knee injury.
The Liberty resumed competition after the Olympic break on Aug. 15, just over four weeks after player Rainey Hamilton’s surgery.
Ten-year veteran Lenny Hamilton missed three games in June with the same knee injury.
She returned and played in three games but experienced swelling in her knee during a bus trip to Connecticut on July 10, where Liberty won 71-68.
She is averaging 12.7 points per game on 47 percent shooting this season, along with 4.5 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.4 steals.
Rainey Hamilton has had knee problems in the past, injuring her right knee in 2022 and undergoing arthroscopic partial meniscectomy surgery for torn meniscal cartilage.
Besides Laney Hamilton, the Liberty (20-4) also has a number of injuries heading into Tuesday night’s crucial matchup with the second-place Sun (18-5).
Breanna Stewart is listed as questionable for rest reasons as she manages her workload ahead of the WNBA All-Star game and preparation for the 2024 Paris Olympics with the U.S. women’s team.
Backup wing Kayla Thornton is listed as questionable with a neck injury.
Nyala Sabali has also been questionable with a back injury and has missed 14 games this season. He returned on June 11 against the Sky at Barclays Center.
Rookie Leonie Fiebic has taken over as the starter at small forward in Lainey Hamilton’s absence, with Thornton also seeing more playing time in the past few games.
This season, the Liberty bench is 10-1 in games without one or more starters.
