WNBA players Nyara Sabally (l.) and Leonie Fiebich in the New York Liberty jersey
Source: dpa
2024 is the year of German women’s basketball: In February, the German basketball players celebrated their greatest success to date. In Brazil, the DBB selection qualified for the Olympic Games in Paris against the hosts. Best player in Germany in the decisive game: Leonie Fiebich – 22 points and 11 rebounds. Nyara Sabally contributed 10 points and 5 rebounds to the surprise.The German basketball players defeated European champions Belgium in their Olympic premiere. The team of national coach Lisa Thomaidis prevails in Lille with 83:69 (46:25).07/29/2024 | 6:20 minutes
WNBA – the little sister of the NBA
If you want to classify the success of the two Germans, you have to start with the story of this year. The season in the USA was already underway, then interrupted for the games in Paris and continued immediately afterwards. A year of constant physical and mental stress. Always new challenges and goals. Always seek, find and implement motivation. Why?
To play in the glittering world of America. The WNBA is the world’s largest women’s league, but it is just the little sister of the billion-dollar NBA. For comparison: NBA superstars are currently signing contracts that guarantee them $60 million or more per season.The German basketball players clearly beat the team from Japan, who were runners-up at the Olympics in Tokyo, and moved into the quarter-finals early.01.08.2024 | 7:58 minutes
Female basketball players are financially behind
Leonie Fiebich is expected to receive a base salary of around $67,000 in New York this season, a good one-thousandth of the highest-paying NBA contracts. At Sabally it should be even less. In general, female basketball players earn so little that they (have to) play for other clubs in Europe, Asia or Australia during the WNBA break.
But it’s the WNBA, it’s the USA. The country that remains at the top of the list of basketball players and fans. The two 24-year-old Germans are playing together for the first year in New York, the Big Apple. Fiebich moved from Spain and was voted the most valuable player there in the last two years. Sabally is in her 2nd year in the WNBA. The younger sister of Satou, probably Germany’s best player, already went through college in the USA.
New York Liberty best team of the WNBA season
Now they are on the verge of winning the most important title in club basketball. With the New York Liberty, they were the best team after the regular season and eliminated defending champion Las Vegas in the semifinals.
Leonie Fiebich was always in the starting line-up and consistently impressed with outstanding performances. She was just voted one of the best freshmen. Nyara Sabally has a harder time in Australian coach Sandy Brondello’s system. She didn’t go beyond short missions.
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Susanne Lingemann, New York
German influence in the Big Apple
Sandy Brondello will say something to German fans. She was a star player for Barmer TV (later BTV Wuppertal) in the 1990s, won the championship ten times in a row and was the first German team to win the EuroLeague, the European premier league. And she met her husband there. Olaf Lange, later national coach, now assistant coach to his wife at Liberty.
Extremely successful year for Fiebich and Sabally
They all want to win the title now. In the strongest basketball league in the world. The opponents are the Minnesota Lynx. The two best teams of the regular season will meet in the final. Three wins are necessary to become champions. Fiebich and Sabally have been warned. The two teams have met four times this season, with the team from Minneapolis winning three games.
Leonie Fiebich and Nyara Sabally have already achieved so much in 2024. Winning the WNBA Championship would only be a fitting end to an exciting and extremely successful year.
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What: Reuters
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