“Which camera should I look into?” Frieda Bühner still seemed a bit awkward as she stepped before the assembled press in Portland for the first time. Not surprising, because the past three weeks must have swept by like a whirlwind for the 21-year-old basketball player from Osnabrück.
First the night of the draft, when the long-awaited call from Portland arrived. Then the farewell from Madrid, where Bühner had spent the past two years. And now already the first training with her new team. “It has always been my dream to play in the WNBA,” Bühner told the local media there. “Getting this opportunity is fantastic.”
Bühner is now one of five German players in the WNBA – a record since Marlies Askamp became the first German to go to the USA in the late 1990s. The young national player signed a so-called Development Contract with Portland Fire. That means she trains and lives with the team, but may appear in at most twelve games. Casually put, a trial internship for the German up-and-coming talent, just in the best league in the world.
Satou Sabally has already been through all of this. Since her first WNBA season in 2020, the Berliner has developed into one of the best players in the world. Last year she stood with Phoenix on the verge of the title, but a concussion in the final playoffs spoiled her plans. Now Sabally is turning a new page, and for the new season she is heading to New York.
A decision that was driven by more than just sports. “Phoenix was very far from home,” Sabally said at her introductory press conference about the large time difference to Berlin. “And I love New York so much that I wanted to integrate my private life and my career a bit more than I have in my career so far.” The national team player was born in New York, but moved with her family to Berlin at the age of three.
What I really want is to win a championship. I want this ring
Satou Sabally
Longing for the Championship Ring
With her new team Sabally is finally chasing the long-awaited title. And the odds look good, as the club has managed to keep its best players. For that, the three-time All-Star also accepted a lower salary compared with her colleagues. “I know I could be a superstar and market myself on another team. But what I really want is to win a championship. I want this ring,” Sabally said confidently.
There was clearly more in it than the US$1.6 million she will earn over the next two years in New York. For the WNBA is starting its 30th season with a record-breaking collective bargaining agreement. After tough negotiations between the league and the players’ union, the salary cap was raised from 1.5 to seven million US dollars per team, salaries rose by multiples – players can now earn up to 1.4 million US dollars in a season.
With the title, Sabally would follow in the footsteps of two other German national players. Leonie Fiebich and Sabally’s sister Nyara won the title in 2024 – also with the New York Liberty. The dream of playing together on one team, however, was dashed for the sisters for now. Nyara was traded to Toronto in early April, where she is coached, among others, by national coach Olaf Lange.
Fiebich, on the other hand, remains in New York. However, the 26-year-old is still on the court in Spain, where she is contesting the championship with Valencia. Only after that will Fiebich join the WNBA season. Sabally is already looking forward to it. “She is someone who decisively shapes the game and also takes a leading role in Liberty basketball,” Sabally said about her teammate, who has established herself as a key player over the past two years. “I want to use this time to strengthen our chemistry for the upcoming World Championship in Berlin.”
Sabally and Fiebich are, by the way, not the only German duo within a team in the WNBA. Frieda Bühner was recently welcomed in Portland by Luisa Geiselsöder. And she immediately poured in 15 points in the first scrimmage, making her the team’s top player. German fans can thus look forward to an exciting WNBA season.
