{"id":760161,"date":"2026-07-13T10:33:11","date_gmt":"2026-07-13T10:33:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/760161\/"},"modified":"2026-07-13T10:33:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-13T10:33:11","slug":"flying-sneaker-gets-liberty-star-ejected-in-bizarre-finish-that-leaves-wnba-fans-in-disbelief","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/760161\/","title":{"rendered":"Flying sneaker gets Liberty star ejected in bizarre finish that leaves WNBA fans in disbelief"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

You don’t see many games swing because of a flying sneaker, but that’s exactly what happened in the WNBA<\/a> on Sunday.<\/p>\n

New York Liberty<\/a> guard Betnijah Laney-Hamilton was tossed from a tight 93-91 loss to the Toronto Tempo after pegging opponent Marina Mabrey in the back with a stray shoe.<\/p>\n

\"Betnijah <\/p>\n

A flying sneaker from Betnijah Laney-Hamilton hits Marina Mabrey in weird moment during Liberty-Tempo game. (Minas Panagiotakis\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

The flying sneaker couldn’t have come at a worse time, derailing New York’s furious comeback after the Liberty entered the fourth quarter down 16.<\/p>\n

HOST CLAIMS WNBA COMMISSIONER CATHY ENGELBERT CANCELED INTERVIEW AS CAITLIN CLARK CONTROVERSY MOUNTS<\/a><\/p>\n

The chaos started late in the fourth when Jonquel Jones lost her sneaker. Laney-Hamilton tried to throw it back to her teammate, but it instead smacked an unsuspecting Mabrey in the back.<\/p>\n

WATCH:<\/p>\n

Laney-Hamilton had already been mixing it up with Mabrey earlier in the game, including one exchange that earned her a Flagrant 1 foul.<\/p>\n

When the shoe struck Mabrey, officials hit Laney-Hamilton with a technical foul and ejected her.<\/p>\n

\"Betnijah <\/p>\n

An errant sneaker sparked a bizarre ejection of Betnijah Laney-Hamilton, flipping the script on the Liberty’s late rally against Toronto. (Eakin Howard\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Laney-Hamilton defended herself after the final buzzer, insisting it was nothing more than a terrible throw.<\/p>\n

“I would never intentionally try to hit someone with a shoe, especially while they’re not looking,” Laney-Hamilton said.<\/p>\n

“Teammate was without a shoe, so I did my best to try and get it to her. Unfortunately, it did hit someone. I know just by the way that things were going throughout the game that it can look a certain way, but that’s just not something that I would personally do, especially in a moment like that where the game is on the line.”<\/p>\n

\"Betnijah <\/p>\n

A flying sneaker sparked Betnijah Laney-Hamilton’s bizarre ejection, crushing the Liberty’s furious comeback against Toronto. (Minas Panagiotakis\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

CAITLIN CLARK VS. PAIGE BUECKERS HOW TWO WHITE WNBA STARS ENDED UP WITH VERY DIFFERENT CULTURAL PERCEPTIONS<\/a><\/p>\n

Mabrey took the high road after the win, laughing off the fact that she got drilled by a flying sneaker.<\/p>\n

“I had to take a couple breaths,” Mabrey said. “But I think she was really just trying to get the shoe back to JJ. But I’ll take the free throw. I’m working on not being rage-baited.”<\/p>\n

While the players kept it cool, Liberty head coach Chris DeMarco absolutely lost his mind over the game-altering whistle.<\/p>\n

WATCH:<\/p>\n

“I’ve never seen anything like that,” DeMarco said. “We had all the momentum in the world. A shoe hit somebody. Ejected, free throws. I’ve also never seen a ref make such an atrocious call when he’s on the other side of the floor. She was trying to get the shoe back to Jones; it hit somebody. I think we’re just making stuff up. I have no idea. You’re asking the wrong person, okay? It was just an atrocious, atrocious end of that game from the officials.”<\/p>\n

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP<\/a><\/p>\n

Forget the game ball. Somebody needs to preserve that sneaker.<\/p>\n

Send us your thoughts: alejandro.avila@outkick.com<\/a> \/ Follow along on X: @alejandroaveela<\/a><\/p>\n

Alejandro Avila is a longtime writer at OutKick, living in Southern California.\u00a0<\/p>\n