Marine Johannès Unsure About Liberty Future After Semifinal Sweep

The Atlanta Dream beat the New York Liberty 85-83 Friday night at Barclays Center to finish a three-game sweep of the WNBA semifinals. Afterward, Marine Johannès said she does not know whether she will be back in New York next season.

Atlanta took the first two games at home, 92-82 on Oct. 4 and 101-98 in overtime three nights later. Friday's margin was two. Across the three games, the Dream won by a combined 15 points.

Johannès signed her one-year deal to return on April 28. Galatasaray, her Turkish club, saw its season end April 19 at the EuroLeague Women Finals, and she took some time off before signing. She averaged 8.8 points, 2.7 assists, and 2.0 rebounds for Galatasaray in the KBSL regular season, according to the Liberty.

"Marine has been part of this organization since 2019, and that continuity means a lot to us," Liberty general manager Jonathan Kolb said in the team's announcement.

Her first Liberty contract, in 2019, was a training camp deal. Through 2025, she had played 122 games for New York over four seasons, starting 20, with averages of 7.4 points, 1.7 rebounds, and 2.1 assists.

When she re-signed, her 201 3-pointers were among the top 10 in franchise history. Only one Liberty player had scored more points off the bench than her 689.

She did not play in the WNBA in 2024. That summer, Johannès was with France at the Paris Olympics, where the French lost to the United States in the gold medal game. The Liberty won the title that October without her.

This season, Johannès averaged 8.5 points, 2.1 rebounds, and 2.4 assists in 37 games, 18 of them starts, and shot 38.9% from 3-point range.

On May 10, she scored a career-high 25 points with six 3-pointers in an overtime win over the Washington Mystics. Four days later at Portland, she set career highs with 11 assists and a plus-31.

Two French rookies shared the backcourt with her.

The Liberty drafted Marine Fauthoux in 2021 and signed her on April 18. Pauline Astier signed a rookie scale contract on April 13 and moved into the starting lineup.

Playing alongside Breanna Stewart is part of what Johannès loves about New York, and so was having Fauthoux and Astier with her this season.

"It's hard to answer that right now," Johannès said. "I really love it here. I love the city. I love the organization. Playing with, for example, Stewie, it's something huge. Also, this season I had Marine and Pauline here with me, so it was a lot of fun.

"I'm really proud of being part of this team, being part of this organization for now a long time," Johannès continued. "But I don't know what will happen."

Fauthoux went scoreless in Game 1 of the semifinals. In Game 2, she scored 20 points on 8-of-10 shooting before fouling out, including a 3-pointer that tied the game with 10.3 seconds left in regulation. Liberty coach Chris DeMarco praised her play afterward. She scored nine points Friday.

Astier had nine points and six rebounds in Game 1 and five points in Game 2. Her career high of 24 points came against Portland on May 12.

Stewart scored 26 points Friday and averaged 26.7 in the series, going 30-of-32 at the free-throw line. With nine seconds left, she missed a contested layup.

Jonquel Jones added 26 points and 14 rebounds.

DeMarco took over this season. New York went 26-18 and came in eighth, then won 91-75 in Minneapolis on Sept. 27 and 87-71 at Barclays two nights later to knock out top-seeded Minnesota.

A No. 8 seed had never eliminated a No. 1 in league history. DeMarco expects to return as coach.

Atlanta plays the Golden State Valkyries in the best-of-seven Finals, which open Saturday, Oct. 17, at 3:30 p.m. ET at Golden State.