Betnijah Laney-Hamilton

Betnijah Laney-Hamilton (born October 29, 1993) is an American professional basketball player for the New York Liberty of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She played college basketball for Rutgers University.

Early life and college

Laney-Hamilton started playing basketball at 10 years old, largely due to her mother having played basketball competitively. Laney-Hamilton is the daughter of Yolanda Laney, who played for Cheyney State and was also coached by C. Vivian Stringer. Her closest friends are Aiyannah Peal and Sydni Epps.

Laney-Hamilton attended Smyrna High School in Smyrna, Delaware where she averaged 23.7 points, 10 rebounds, 4.4 steals, 4.3 assists and 1.2 blocks per game as a senior and was named a McDonald's All-American.

In her four-year career at Rutgers, Laney-Hamilton played 129 games with 107 starts, and averaged 10.9 points, 7.1 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.2 steals per game.

Professional career

WNBA

Chicago Sky (2015–2016)

On April 16, 2015, Laney-Hamilton was selected by the Chicago Sky with the 17th overall pick in the 2015 WNBA draft. In her rookie season playing for the Sky, Laney-Hamilton averaged 2.8 points and 2.1 rebounds in 33 games (32 regular season and one playoff).

Laney-Hamilton returned to the Chicago Sky for the 2016 WNBA season. On June 8, she was ruled out for the rest of the season after tearing her left anterior cruciate ligament (ACL). The injury occurred during the second quarter of the Sky's June 3 game against the Washington Mystics.

Connecticut Sun (2018)

On February 7, 2018, Laney-Hamilton signed a training camp deal with the Connecticut Sun.

Indiana Fever (2019)

On February 5, 2019, Laney-Hamilton signed with the Indiana Fever. In Indiana, she reunited with her former college teammate from Rutgers Erica Wheeler. On February 14, 2020, she re-signed with the team on a multi-year contract, however, she was released by the Fever on June 17.

Atlanta Dream (2020)

Laney-Hamilton had a breakout season in 2020 with the Atlanta Dream; she was named to the WNBA All-Defensive Team and won the Most Improved Player Award.

New York Liberty (2021–present)

In 2021 she signed with the New York Liberty. 2021 was a rebuilding year for the New York Liberty. in 2022, the Liberty were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs. In 2023, the New York Liberty placed second to the Las Vegas Aces. In 2024, Betnijah Laney-Hamilton was sidelined with injuries but proved pivotal to the New York Liberty's starting linup, with a particularly stellar WNBA Finals Game 2 on the way to the New York Liberty's 2024 WNBA championship.

WNBL

On July 16, 2015, Laney-Hamilton signed with the Perth Lynx for the 2015–16 WNBL season. On November 11, 2015, she was named in the WNBL's Team of the Week for Round 5 after recording 12 points, 11 rebounds and 6 assists against the Adelaide Lightning on November 8. On January 13, 2016, she earned Team of the Week honors for a second time. On February 16, she was named WNBL Player of the Month for January. She led the Lynx to a second place regular season finish with a 16–8 win–loss record, and went on to score a game-high 23 points in the team's semi-final win over the first-seeded Townsville Fire. With the win, the Lynx advanced to the WNBL grand final for the first time since 1999. There they were outclassed by the defending champion Townsville (who made it to the grand final via the preliminary final), losing the best-of-three series 2–0. Laney-Hamilton appeared in all 27 games for the Lynx in 2015–16, averaging 15.2 points, 7.8 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.0 steals per game.

Unrivaled

On February 18, 2025, Laces BC signed Laney-Hamilton to a relief player contract. After appearing in just two games, Laney-Hamilton exited the league on March 3 due to an undisclosed injury.

Career statistics

WNBA

Regular season

Stats current through end of 2024 season

Playoffs

College

Off the court

Personal life

Laney is married to Jordan Hamilton, a fellow basketball player.

Philanthropy

In February 2024, Laney-Hamilton joined the WNBA Changemakers Collective and their collaboration with VOICEINSPORT (VIS) as a mentor, "aimed at keeping girls in sport and developing diverse leaders on the court and beyond the game."

References

External links

• Career statistics from WNBA.com and Basketball Reference
• Rutgers bio at the Wayback Machine (archived September 24, 2015)