{"id":779714,"date":"2026-07-23T11:12:18","date_gmt":"2026-07-23T11:12:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/779714\/"},"modified":"2026-07-23T11:12:18","modified_gmt":"2026-07-23T11:12:18","slug":"leonie-fiebichs-recovery-is-testing-her-patience-with-liberty-fiba-world-cup-status-on-the-line","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/779714\/","title":{"rendered":"Leonie Fiebich’s recovery is testing her patience with Liberty, FIBA World Cup status on the line"},"content":{"rendered":"

Liberty wing Leonie Fiebich said she\u2019s \u201cnot at all\u201d a patient person.<\/p>\n

But her tolerance is being tested as each day passes and she\u2019s unable to play.<\/p>\n

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 \u201ckind of took a bad step\u201d at one point. She had some soreness the next day but still got in the gym to shoot.<\/p>\n

However, the soreness didn\u2019t go away.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Regardless, the test results were enough for her and the team to decide it was best for her to rest indefinitely.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m feeling good,\u201d she said before the Liberty\u2019s 95-94 loss to the Sky <\/a>as their final game before the All-Star break. \u201cMaking progress, getting better every day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fiebich still doesn\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n

Fiebich said she was \u201cof course\u201d concerned about whether she\u2019ll be available for the World Cup when she tweaked her left foot.<\/p>\n

\"WNBALiberty forward Leonie Fiebich (13) goes to the bench, during the first half of the Commissioner\u0092s Cup Championship at the Barclays Center. Tuesday, June 30, 2026. Noah K. Murray-NY Post<\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t want to be injured at any stage, right, especially in a World Cup year,\u201d she said. \u201cBut more so, like, I hate to be on the sidelines as every athlete \u2026 not being able to help the team.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fiebich declined to answer whether she would be playing through the pain right now had this not been a World Cup year.<\/p>\n

She did say, however, that she\u2019s being extra cautious given the World Cup.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\u201cWith the World Cup coming up, I wouldn\u2019t say I prioritize it, but it\u2019s a really important tournament for us,\u201d she said, \u201cand just making sure I\u2019m going to be healthy going into it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Liberty desperately miss Fiebich\u2019s length and defensive versatility, especially amid this 1-4 stretch. They\u2019re also without Satou Sabally, who has been in concussion protocol for the past month.<\/p>\n

\"New Liberty forward Leonie Fiebich (13) drives to the basket past Washington Mystics forward Michaela Onyenwere (12) during the first half of a WNBA basketball game at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn on Sunday, June 14, 2026. Heather Khalifa for NY Post<\/p>\n

New York is 10-4 when Fiebich is on the floor and 4-8 without her.<\/p>\n

Seeing the team struggle has heightened Fiebich\u2019s urgency to get back on the floor. But she\u2019s still not cleared to play.<\/p>\n

\u201cDifficult right now for the team, definitely suffering with them a little bit,\u201d Fiebich said. \u201cI think the win we got against Dallas was really important, of course, for the standings but also for us mentally as a team. Let\u2019s 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCovering the Liberty like never before\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSign up for Madeline Kenney’s Inside the Liberty, a weekly Sports+ newsletter.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\tThank you\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Fiebich said she\u2019s taking the recovery process day by day.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m in this facility seven days, seven hours a day, doing everything I can,\u201d she said. \u201c\u2026 It\u2019s just day by day like I could be that I wake up tomorrow I\u2019m really good or I\u2019m in pain or yeah just kind of depends on the day.\u201d<\/p>\n

The past 2 \u00bd weeks have been frustrating for Fiebich since most of this is out of her control.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I could, I would play right now,\u201d she said. \u201cBeing extra cautious and careful is something that\u2019s really testing my patience. But I mean, I got to do it. There\u2019s no way around it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Liberty wing Leonie Fiebich said she\u2019s \u201cnot at all\u201d a patient person. But her tolerance is being tested…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":779715,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[436,99,434],"class_list":["post-779714","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wnba","tag-new-york-liberty","tag-sports","tag-wnba"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/779714","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=779714"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/779714\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/779715"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=779714"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=779714"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=779714"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}