LSU star Alexis Morris was waived by the Connecticut Sun just hours after playing in the team’s preseason win Wednesday against the New York Liberty.
With Morris’ exit, both LSU players selected in the 2023 WNBA Draft have been cut by their teams, as rookies across the league feel the roster crunch. LaDazhia Williams, Morris’ teammate with the national champion Tigers, was waived Tuesday by the Indiana Fever.
“Welp I just got waived. Thank you Sun nation,” Morris tweeted Wednesday afternoon.
The point guard contributed two points and three rebounds in eight minutes for the Sun on Wednesday. As she heads to the waiver wire, she told her supporters not to express any sympathy.
“Don’t call me or text me on no sad behavior, it’s up!!!!” she wrote. “It’s too much cheese and oppurtunities out here to be sad. Im the COMEBACK KID! I will be back.”
Welp I just got waived. Thank you Sun nation 😘😘😘— Steelo (@AlexisMorrisWBB) May 10, 2023
Welp I just got waived. Thank you Sun nation 😘😘😘
Bro don’t call me or text me on no sad behavior, it’s up!!!! It’s too much cheese and oppurtunities out here to be sad. Im the COMEBACK KID! I will be back LUUUUUUTHORRRRRRRRRR— Steelo (@AlexisMorrisWBB) May 10, 2023
Bro don’t call me or text me on no sad behavior, it’s up!!!! It’s too much cheese and oppurtunities out here to be sad. Im the COMEBACK KID! I will be back LUUUUUUTHORRRRRRRRRR
Last season, just 17 of the 36 picks from the 2022 WNBA Draft made opening day rosters.
This season is headed in a similar direction. As of Wednesday afternoon, 23 of 36 picks from the 2023 draft appeared on rosters, and almost every team still has cuts left to make to fit under the 12-player maximum.
Not every player who does not appear on a roster has been waived. For example, Washington Mystics draftee Txell Alarcon and Minnesota Lynx draftee Maia Hirsch are both draft-and-stash picks who will remain in Europe for at least the upcoming season.
Still, the fact remains: With just 144 spots across 12 teams, roster space is at a premium in the WNBA, and the issue may not be rectified any time soon.
Morris even spoke about a related issue — the adjustments required of college players when they make the jump to the WNBA — in a TikTok after her first day of group workouts with the Sun.
“This is for the colleges and the institutions: in order to grow the league, you have to prep the players for what’s to come. In order to do that, you have to watch the league, you have to see the style of play, the systems that they’re running, so that the adjustment and the transition for college players — women’s college players — to the WNBA won’t be so difficult,” she said.