Describing the 2024 WNBA rookie class as highly-anticipated is an understatement.
Rookie sensations Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese dominated headlines, and rightfully so considering their arrival into the league after illustrious collegiate careers. But a rookie that wasn’t present — or even selected — at Brooklyn Academy of Music on April 15 is the last one standing making an impact on the WNBA’s postseason stage: The Liberty’s Leonie Fiebich.
Fiebich, the 24-year-old German forward selected in the 2020 WNBA Draft, went from an unknown acquisition from the Chicago Sky in a 2023 four-team deal to a 2024 WNBA All-Rookie Team selection. On Thursday, she was announced as the runner-up for the Sixth Player of the Year Award. Las Vegas Aces reserve Tiffany Hayes beat out Fiebich by 17 votes for the accolade.
Though not familiar in the states, Fiebich stocked up on accomplishments before her first WNBA game in 2024. She started her pro career with German club Jahn München in 2016 and turned into a two-time Spanish League MVP (2022-23) with Casademont Zaragoza. She led her team to a Spanish Cup — an annual title awarded to the last team standing in Liga Femenina de Baloncesto — title in 2023 and also earned All-EuroLeague First Team in 2024.
Joining a star-studded Liberty team following training camp this spring, Fiebich averaged just 2.5 points in 10.2 minutes throughout the first month of the regular season. Liberty rookies Jaylyn Sherrod and Marquesha Davis saw even less time on the floor in their inaugural WNBA season.
The lengthy German admitted earlier in the season that she needed to adjust to the WNBA game, including tighter officiating that she wasn’t accustomed to overseas.
And Liberty head coach Sandy Brondello said Fiebich — and the rest of the Liberty’s new bench unit — just needed “more experiences with the group,” after a May 31 victory against the Washington Mystics.
“They’re new to the team. Just staying confident in what they do do. They’ve got their opportunities there,” the head coach said.”
Then Fiebich took off, getting starts in games while Betnijah Laney-Hamilton dealt with knee injuries throughout the 2024 WNBA season. And she told reporters in the summer that her confidence had been growing “game to game.”
Fiebich’s length unlocked new heights for a Liberty defense that already included All-World defenders Jonquel Jones and Breanna Stewart.
She also helped the German National Team — alongside Liberty teammate Nyara Sabally — advance into the knockout round. They eventually were eliminated by eventual Team France silver medalists in the quarterfinals.
In the final 30 regular-season games (15 starts), she recorded at least 12 points nine teams. She notched a career-high twice with 16 points against the Dallas Wings on Aug. 22 and Sept. 10.
And her total regular-season plus-minus (+279) was the second highest plus-minus by a rookie in WNBA history. She ranked second among all rookies throughout WNBA history in three-point percentage, at 43.3% (min. 125 attempts).
Fiebich went from a relative unknown to a player heralded among opposing WNBA coaches.
After getting her first postseason start and torching the Atlanta Dream in Game 1 of the first-round series, Tanisha Wright praised the versatile forward.
“I thought she did a really good job shooting the ball,” Wright, who was fired Wednesday, said last month after Fiebich logged a postseason career-high 21 points and four made treys.
Wight also noted Fiebich’s “length, her physicality, her ability to be able to blow things up and stay in the play so you can’t run things smoothy.”
And before the Liberty put her team on the ropes in the second-round series, Las Vegas head coach Becky Hammon labeled Fiebich as New York’s X-factor.
“I love Fiebich. I’m a huge fan of Fiebich,” Hammon said before Sunday’s Game 1 Liberty victory. “She has length. She has incredible feel for guarding distance. Like she’s close enough you can’t can’t get the shot off, but she’s far enough and off you that you can’t really go by her.
“And she’s deadly from the three-point line… I love shooting bigs. She’s like a guard, but she’s big. She’s a big guard. I think she just provides a lot of versatility for them.”