Liberty re-sign Marine Johannes: French star to make return from Olympics hiatus with reigning WNBA champions

The reigning champion New York Liberty have re-signed French guard Marine Johannes, the team announced Friday. Johannes sat out the 2024 WNBA season to focus on the Olympics, which were hosted by her home country. She helped France get to the gold medal game, where it lost to the United States. 

“It is a special opportunity to add Marine — who believed in our vision since 2019 — to a team once again competing for a title,” Liberty general manager Jonathan Kolb said in a press release. “Marine’s floor spacing and dynamic ability to create scoring opportunities for herself and others will add another dimension to our offense in 2025.”

Johannes, 30, made her WNBA debut with the Liberty in 2019, but has only played in three seasons since then — 2019, 2022 and 2023 — due to overseas commitments. Because Johannes had only played in three seasons, she was classified as a reserved free agent. Thus, the Liberty were able to obtain exclusive negotiating rights with her once they extended her a qualifying offer, which they did back in January. 

Despite having just 78 career appearances, largely off the bench, Johannes is a fan favorite for her electric style on offense, where she’s capable of making a highlight-reel play every time down the floor. No-look passes and one-legged 3-pointers are her signature moves. 

In 2023, Johannes averaged, 7.1 points, 1.4 rebounds and 1.7 assists in 18.9 minutes, and shot 36.8% from 3-point range. She finished fourth in Sixth Player of the Year voting. 

As the Liberty head into 2025 looking to repeat as champions, Johannes figures to play a crucial role off the bench yet again. Even after acquiring Natasha Cloud from the Connecticut Sun in a trade earlier this month, they still needed backcourt depth due to Courtney Vandersloot’s departure in free agency. 

With these two recent moves, the Liberty’s backcourt situation now looks strong: Sabrina Ionescu, Cloud and Johannes. Few teams, if any, can match their offensive playmaking, while Cloud can handle the toughest defensive matchups. 

The Liberty will tip off their 2025 campaign at home against the Las Vegas Aces on May 17.