Imani McGee-Stafford doesn’t want there to be any mixup about why she chose to play in Athletes Unlimited’s inaugural basketball season.

The new domestic women’s basketball league can serve as a proving ground for players looking to get a shot in the WNBA, as Taj Cole demonstrated Wednesday when the Connecticut Sun signed her to a training camp contract. While McGee-Stafford has goals of getting back to the WNBA herself, the former Dallas Wings center recognizes that what they’re trying to build with AU Basketball isn’t just a pipeline to the WNBA.

“That’s kind of been the narrative, but that’s not what we’re trying to do,” McGee-Stafford told Just Women’s Sports before the start of the season. “Like, don’t get me wrong, I think maybe a quarter of our roster are WNBA players, former W players, if not more. But this isn’t about the WNBA. This is about having an option to play offseason stateside and being able to be seen.

“When we’re playing here and with Athletes Unlimited, we’re trying to build this.”

A big part of that transition for the players is learning how to balance the individuality of AU with the team sport of basketball. Based on AU’s system, players earn points for different categories of individual statistics and for winning quarters and games. Each quarter is worth 50 points, while a game is worth 100.

“As much as it rewards individuals with the point system, it’s always about winning,” McGee-Stafford said. “I think that’s the fun part, honestly, because you’ve gotta gel quickly.”

McGee-Stafford can find even greater joy in the game after sitting out the past two years to go to law school. Becoming a lawyer has always been part of the 27-year-old’s career plan. A survivor of sexual assault, she wants to one day change the laws surrounding women’s rights and sexual violence.

Getting her law degree wasn’t supposed to happen until later on, but when COVID-19 threatened the 2020 WNBA season, McGee-Stafford knew she had one of two choices: get a job or apply to law school. Dallas’ ownership, she says, was supportive of her decision.

“I still have my contract with them,” she said. “They easily could have just cut me and it would have been a different conversation. But they were just like, ‘We get it. We think that’s dope. We love that for you. When you’re ready, come back. We’ll have a contract for you to earn.’”

She had always planned to return for the 2022 season, and began training again in August to prepare for WNBA training camps opening in April. At that point, heading overseas seemed like the only option she had to get back up to speed before attempting to make a WNBA team.

Enter Athletes Unlimited.

With AU, McGee-Stafford can still attend law school (she is taking just three classes this semester to avoid overloading her schedule) while getting live game experience.

“As much as I feel ready, you don’t really know if you are ready, ready until you get into playing,” she said. “So that was really exciting for me. I can’t hide it. I’m a little giddy baby here because I miss playing basketball and I didn’t know I would miss it as much as I do.”

Round 🏀🏀🏀🏀⬇️
💛: @TheManisLauren
🧡: @imanitrishawn_
💙: @Kirby_Skye
💜: @XxNik_NakxX pic.twitter.com/a56GZrHFGI

— Athletes Unlimited (@AUProSports) January 30, 2022

While she admits there were nerves during her first days back in training, there were also moments where it felt like everything was lining up, like divine intervention.

One of AU’s basketball facilitators, Pokey Chatman, was the coach who drafted McGee-Stafford to the Chicago Sky with the 10th overall pick in 2016. Despite not having played in a WNBA game since 2019, she said Chatman gave her “the best compliment” after her first day of practice.

“I asked her how I looked after our first practice, and she said I look like me,” said McGee-Stafford.

She’s looked like herself through the first two game weeks of the AU season, too. On opening night last Wednesday, as a member of the team captained by Kelsey Mitchell, McGee-Stafford was all over the glass, bringing down 11 rebounds in a 92-85 loss. After entering COVID-19 protocols and missing the two games over the weekend, the center returned Wednesday night to contribute seven points and seven rebounds in 20 minutes played in Team Brown’s 83-76 win.

McGee-Stafford, despite the two games missed, is currently 13th on AU’s leaderboard with 1,079 points. Natasha Cloud leads the way with 2,047 points through four games.

Records and standings aside, after more than two years away from the game, McGee-Stafford is grateful to have found a basketball home with AU.

“The question about me has always been about my focus and dedication to basketball, so taking that time away for a while really gave me a chance to rejuvenate with my body and my mind,” she said. “And I’m 100 percent here now.”

Emma Hruby is an Associate Editor at Just Women’s Sports.

USWNT stalwart Alex Morgan will miss at least one week of NWSL action after suffering a left ankle knock in her last club appearance, Wave manager Casey Stoney said on Thursday.

Morgan was helped off the field after rolling her ankle in the later stages of the Wave’s 1-0 loss to the Orlando Pride last weekend, despite the San Diego side being out of available substitutes.

“She's got an ankle injury and she's out for this weekend, and then it'll be week by week from there,” Stoney said, confirming that Morgan’s been ruled out for Saturday’s showdown with NWSL newcomer Bay FC.

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Depending on its severity, Morgan’s ankle issue might have larger ramifications than missing a few weeks of NSWL play. Morgan was added to the team's Gold Cup roster after an ACL injury sidelined young striker Mia Fishel, and she's since made a number of USWNT starts in the team's Gold Cup and SheBelieves wins. A long-term injury could potentially derail the center forward’s Olympic plans.

With her return timeline uncertain, it's possible the injury could also impact Morgan's ability to participate in new head coach Emma Hayes' first U.S. friendlies in June and July.

Morgan's injury concerns aren't uncommon in the U.S. player pool, but add a sense of urgency as Hayes eyes the NWSL for top-performing players in the upcoming weeks. Gotham's Tierna Davidson and Rose Lavelle have also been dealing with injuries: Lavelle has yet to appear for Gotham, while Davidson exited last weekend's match early with a hamstring injury.

Gotham has yet to issue an update concerning Davidson's status.

This week, legendary Brazilian superstar Marta announced that she’ll retire from the national team at the end of 2024.

In an interview with CNN Esportes published Thursday, the iconic footballer confirmed that she would be hanging up her boots regardless of whether or not she ends up making Brazil's 18-player roster for the 2024 Paris Olympics. 

“If I go to the Olympics, I will enjoy every moment, because regardless of whether I go to the Olympics or not, this is my last year with the national team,” she said. “There is no longer Marta in the national team as an athlete from 2025 onwards.”

Marta will retire as a giant of the women's game, having appeared in five Olympics and multiple World Cups. When discussing her retirement, she stressed confidence in the rising generation of Brazilian players, noting that she was, “very calm about this, because I see with great optimism this development that we are having in relation to young athletes." 

The statement echoes back to a plea she made during the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup after Brazil lost to France 2-1 in the Round of 16. “It's wanting more. It's training more. It's taking care of yourself more. It's being ready to play 90 plus 30 minutes. This is what I ask of the girls,” she said then, addressing the young players following in her footsteps. 

In 2023, she signaled a farewell to World Cup competition with the same sentiment, telling media, “We ask the new generation to continue where we left off.”

If selected for the 2024 Olympic team, Marta has a shot at extending her own consecutive-scoring record with the ability to score in an unbelievable sixth-straight Olympic Games. She currently stands as Brazil’s top goalscorer, racking up 116 career goals in 175 matches, as well as the leading goalscorer in any World Cup, women’s or men’s, with 17 to her name. 

Marta will continue to play for the NWSL’s Orlando Pride through at least the end of 2024. The longtime forward and club captain has already contributed to multiple goals this season.

U.S. Soccer announced Tuesday that the USWNT will play their last home game on July 16th in the lead-up to the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris.

The 2024 Send-Off Match against Costa Rica will take place at Washington, DC’s Audi Field — home to both the Washington Spirit and DC United — at 7:30 p.m. ET on Tuesday, July 16th. The friendly rounds out a four-game Olympic run-up campaign under incoming head coach Emma Hayes’ side, with the last two set to feature the finalized 2024 U.S. Olympic Women’s Soccer Team roster.

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Hayes will appear on the USWNT sideline for the first time this June, helming the team as they embark on a two-game series against Korea Republic hosted by Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colorado on June 1st followed by Allianz Stadium in St. Paul, Minnesota on June 4th. 

The team is then scheduled to meet a talented Mexico squad on July 13th at Gotham FC’s Red Bull Arena in Harrison, New Jersey, where the Olympic-bound lineup will attempt to rewrite February’s shocking 2-0 loss to El Tri Femenil in the group stages of this year’s Concacaf W Gold Cup. And while clear roster favorites have emerged from both of this year’s Gold Cup and SheBelives Cup rosters, a spate of recent and recurring injuries means making it to the Olympics is still largely anyone’s game.

Broadcast and streaming channels for the USWNT's final July 16th friendly at Audi Field include TNT, truTV, Universo, Max, and Peacock.

The USA Basketball Women's National Team is still considering Caitlin Clark for a spot on the Paris Olympics squad, says selection committee chair Jennifer Rizzotti. 

On Monday, Rizzotti told the AP that the committee will be evaluating the college phenom’s Olympic prospects by keeping a close eye on her first few weeks of WNBA play with Indiana.

The move is somewhat unconventional. While Clark was invited to participate in the 14-player national team training camp held earlier this month — the last camp before Team USA’s roster drops — she was unable to attend due to it coinciding with Iowa’s trip to the NCAA Women’s Final Four.

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Judging by the immense talent spread throughout the league in what might be their most hyped season to date, competition for a piece of the Olympic pie could be fiercer than ever before.

"You always want to introduce new players into the pool whether it's for now or the future," said Rizzotti. "We stick to our principles of talent, obviously, positional fit, loyalty and experience. It's got to be a combination of an entire body of work. It's still not going to be fair to some people."

Of course, Clark isn’t the first rookie the committee has made exceptions for. Coming off an exceptional college season that saw her averaging 19.4 points, 8.7 rebounds, and 4 assists per game for UConn, Breanna Stewart was tapped to represent the U.S. at the 2016 Olympics in Brazil less than two weeks after being drafted No. 1 overall by the Seattle Storm. Eight years prior, fellow No. 1 pick Candace Parker punched her ticket to the 2008 Games in Beijing just two weeks after making her first appearance for the L.A. Sparks.

In the lead-up to Paris’ Opening Ceremony on July 26th, USA Basketball Women’s National Team is scheduled to play a pair of exhibition games. They'll first go up against the WNBA's finest at the July 20th WNBA All-Star Game in Phoenix before facing Germany in London on July 23rd.

While an official roster announcement date hasn’t yet been issued, players won’t find out if they’ve made this year’s Olympic cut until at least June 1st.