Shoe-throwing kerfuffle overshadowed Betnijah Laney-Hamilton’s breakthrough performance

MONTREAL — A heated back-and-forth with Marina Mabrey, a thrown shoe and a subsequent first career ejection overshadowed what had been a relatively solid showing from Betnijah Laney-Hamilton.

Laney-Hamilton headed to the locker room with 1:48 left in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s 93-91 loss to the Toronto Tempo after she accidentally hit Mabrey with a shoe.

Laney-Hamilton said she meant to throw Jonquel Jones’ abandoned sneaker back at her teammate. She missed and the shoe flew into Mabrey, who was rightfully irked before realizing what happened.

Mabrey told reporters after the game she believed it wasn’t intentional. Laney-Hamilton confirmed that was the case to The Post.

“I would never intentionally try to hit someone with a shoe, especially while they’re not looking,” Laney-Hamilton said. “Teammate was without a shoe, so I did my best to try and get it to her. Unfortunately, it did hit someone.”

Laney-Hamilton knew spectators would try to connect the dots and make the incident a bigger deal than it was. Laney-Hamilton and Mabrey had been going at each other throughout the game as competitors do.

“I know just by the way that things were going throughout the game that it can look a certain way,” Laney-Hamilton said. “But that’s just not something that I would personally do … especially in a moment like that where the game is on the line.”

Laney-Hamilton was assessed a flagrant-1 foul late in the second quarter after her arm made contact with Mabrey’s face while the two scrambled for a loose ball.

In the third quarter, Laney-Hamilton and Mabrey got into a skirmish resulting in both receiving technical fouls.

The shoe throw was Laney-Hamilton’s second tech of the day, resulting in an automatic ejection.

A shoe is thrown at Marina Mabrey by Betnijah Laney-Hamilton during the Liberty-Tempo game on Sunday.

Drama aside, it was one of Laney-Hamilton’s better showings at the office.

With Pauline Astier in foul trouble and Leonie Fiebich and Satou Sabally not with the team because of injuries, Laney-Hamilton helped provide a boost off the bench.

Laney-Hamilton believes her six-point, three-rebound outing is something she can build on.

“It definitely felt good to just kind of find some type of rhythm,” she said. “The game is a game of rhythm and so I think just hopefully I’m able to continue to build on that and everything.”

Laney-Hamilton’s difficult season has been well documented. Her role has fluctuated after returning from a yearlong knee surgery recovery. She’s on a one-year deal and could be a trade candidate with the Aug. 2 deadline approaching.

Laney-Hamilton, though, is doing her best to stay levelheaded.

Betnijah Laney-Hamilton #44 of the New York Liberty drives to the basket during the game against the Toronto Tempo in Montreal on July 12, 2026. NBAE via Getty Images

“Just going into it with the mindset of just staying ready,” she said. “Obviously, it’s been really tough. Everything’s been kind of uncertain and just ups and downs, but I just really been trying to focus on staying ready for the moment and just going out there.”