Liberty wing Leonie Fiebich said she’s “not at all” a patient person.
But her tolerance is being tested as each day passes and she’s unable to play.
Fiebich has been sidelined since a 99-86 home win over the Minnesota Lynx on July 3 after suffering a left foot injury. She logged 36 minutes in that game but said she “kind of took a bad step” at one point. She had some soreness the next day but still got in the gym to shoot.
However, the soreness didn’t go away.
It was severe enough that she underwent an MRI exam and other scans to evaluate the issue. Speaking with reporters Wednesday for the first time since her injury, Fiebich declined to share her official diagnosis.
Regardless, the test results were enough for her and the team to decide it was best for her to rest indefinitely.
“I’m feeling good,” she said before the Liberty’s 95-94 loss to the Sky as their final game before the All-Star break. “Making progress, getting better every day.”
Fiebich still doesn’t have an official timeline to return. The uncertainty of the situation brings into question her status for the German national team in the 2026 FIBA World Cup, which is scheduled for Sept. 4 through Sept. 13.
Fiebich said she was “of course” concerned about whether she’ll be available for the World Cup when she tweaked her left foot.
“You don’t want to be injured at any stage, right, especially in a World Cup year,” she said. “But more so, like, I hate to be on the sidelines as every athlete … not being able to help the team.”
Fiebich declined to answer whether she would be playing through the pain right now had this not been a World Cup year.
She did say, however, that she’s being extra cautious given the World Cup.
“With the World Cup coming up, I wouldn’t say I prioritize it, but it’s a really important tournament for us,” she said, “and just making sure I’m going to be healthy going into it.”
The Liberty desperately miss Fiebich’s length and defensive versatility, especially amid this 1-4 stretch. They’re also without Satou Sabally, who has been in concussion protocol for the past month.
New York is 10-4 when Fiebich is on the floor and 4-8 without her.
Seeing the team struggle has heightened Fiebich’s urgency to get back on the floor. But she’s still not cleared to play.
“Difficult right now for the team, definitely suffering with them a little bit,” Fiebich said. “I think the win we got against Dallas was really important, of course, for the standings but also for us mentally as a team. Let’s see if we can add on that and just keep the winning going and more so the progress. I would say just of course we want to win games but we want to make progress.”
Fiebich said she’s taking the recovery process day by day.
“I’m in this facility seven days, seven hours a day, doing everything I can,” she said. “… It’s just day by day like I could be that I wake up tomorrow I’m really good or I’m in pain or yeah just kind of depends on the day.”
The past 2 ½ weeks have been frustrating for Fiebich since most of this is out of her control.
“If I could, I would play right now,” she said. “Being extra cautious and careful is something that’s really testing my patience. But I mean, I got to do it. There’s no way around it.”
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
