NEW YORK – JUNE 2, 2021 – The WNBA announced today that New York Liberty Head Coach Walt Hopkins and rookie forward Michaela Onyenwere have earned the league’s awards for Coach and Kia WNBA Rookie of the Month.
Second-year Head Coach Walt Hopkins has led the Liberty to a 5-2 start this season, the team’s best since 2007. This is Hopkins’ first Coach of the Month award, and the franchise’s second (Bill Laimbeer, Aug. 2017). The Liberty are currently leading the league in three pointers made (83) and three-point percentage (43.2). New York is also ranked among the top five teams across several categories including: points per game (5th, 84.1), assists per game (2nd, 20.9), field goal percentage (4th, 44.3) and free throw percentage (3rd, 82.5).
Onyenwere, the Liberty’s sixth overall selection in the 2021 WNBA Draft, is currently leading all rookies in points per game (12.1), minutes per game (23.9), total field goals made (31) and three pointers made (15). She is also averaging 3.3 rebounds per game and shooting 44.3% from the field, 44.1% from beyond the arc and 88.9% at the free throw line. Onyenwere’s career-best 29-point performance against the Atlanta Dream on May 29 was the best among rookies this season.
Michaela is the Liberty’s second ever Rookie of the Month. New York center Kiah Stokes earned the franchise’s first honor in August 2015. Since 2010, each winner of the WNBA’s Rookie of the Year Award has also garnered Rookie of the Month honors.