Well before the champagne flowed in Chicago following the Sky’s historic WNBA Championship, players from playoff-eliminated teams boarded planes, trains, and automobiles and ventured off to begin their “offseason” on teams in Europe, Asia, and Australia. Once their team’s WNBA season ended, many only had a week or two of rest and family time before they were due to check-in at international locales per the terms of their overseas contracts.

The continued year-round nature of women’s professional basketball applies, with few exceptions, to all categories of players in the W. Many of the league’s biggest stars, such as Breanna Stewart and Brittany Griner, have been on the 12-month hamster wheel for years on end. And rookies, like 2021 top overall draft pick Charlie Collier and WNBA Rookie of the Year Michaela Onyenwere, are heading abroad for their very first international seasons. Collier will play in Italy and Onyenwere will head to Spain once she’s recovered from surgery to repair ruptured ligaments in her finger.

Jonquel Jones, this season’s uncontested MVP, and her top seeded Connecticut Sun were knocked out in the semi-finals on October 6th by the late-peaking Sky. Jones had exactly 13 days to come down from the loss, pack, fly across the world, psych herself back up, and be on the court in Russia for tip-off on October 20th. In her season debut for UMMC Ekaterinburg, she had 19 points and 9 rebounds in just 21 minutes.

UMMC’s track record of being able to afford the most star power from the WNBA continues this year, with a roster that includes Jones, Griner, Stewart, Courtney Vandersloot, Allie Quigley, and Emma Meesseman. It’s virtually a WNBA All-Star team competing in Russia every winter. With Stewart still recovering from an Achilles clean-up surgery (and adjusting to life with a newborn) and Griner opting for a longer rest period before heading over, UMMC may be slightly more on par with their competition for the first half of the season.

Griner, for one, has indicated her tenure of running the year-round race is coming to an end. 

“It is getting harder and harder,” Griner said the day after the Mercury lost the title to Chicago. “I’m not really looking forward to it, honestly — having to leave my family and go overseas again. Definitely going over this offseason, and then just taking it year-by-year.” 

Arike Ogunbowale has already returned to Dynamo Kursk in Russia and will be joined this year by Seattle guard Epiphanny Prince and New York forward Natasha Howard. One of the most impactful forwards in the league, as evidenced by her three WNBA Championships (2017 with the Lynx, 2018 and 2020 with the Storm), Howard concluded her WNBA season on September 23rd and was already across the globe and on the court for Kursk on October 6th, scoring 22 points and snagging 11 rebounds.

Bella Alarie, Amanda Zahui B., Elizabeth Williams, and Kayla McBride were also all across the pond and logging minutes less than three weeks after their final WNBA contest. In McBride’s case, it was nine days between her last Lynx game and her first for Fenerbahce Safiport in Turkey. Zahui B. and Williams are also on the Fenerbahce roster this season and will be joined by Kiah Stokes, Bria Hartley, and Satou Sabally. Fenerbahce will be on the hunt to dethrone UMMC, who knocked them out in the semi-finals last year, 88-84, on their way to their third EuroLeague Championship in a row.

Kahleah Copper will be taking her Finals MVP skills over to Spain, where she’ll join Alarie and the Samuelson sisters on Perfumerias Avenida. The Aces’ Jackie Young and Wings’ Marina Mabrey are headed down under to play for Perth in Australia’s Women’s National Basketball League. A handful of other WNBAers will also be sprinkled throughout the WNBL. With nine players already signed to overseas contracts, the Dallas Wings likely have the highest percentage of personnel abroad this offseason. Eight Mystics and six Liberty have also already committed to playing internationally.

Clearly, the financial gain to be made from playing overseas during the offseason is still alive and well for the vast majority of players. With a relatively short WNBA season (6 months), it’s not unreasonable for athletes to compete elsewhere during the winter months. The problem is that with WNBA salaries still a far cry from other mainstream pro sports, playing a 12-month schedule is one of the only ways to make a decent living in a career with an (at best) early-40s cutoff. The endless cycle means injuries, burnout, mental health issues, family separation, and other hardships weighing heavily on the shoulders of these players.

The conversation on how to change this reality is ongoing. Continuing to grow the WNBA to be a stand-alone, viable one-season option is the top priority but is not going to happen in the short term. The announcement of an Athlete’s Unlimited basketball season this winter is a great option for players who only need a small amount of extra income to subsidize their WNBA salary (AU players will reportedly earn $20K-$25K), or whose bodies just can’t withstand the year-round grind. The WNBA’s highly touted 2020 CBA, which significantly raised salaries, was also praised for allowing top players “to earn up to $300,000 more in ‘league marketing agreements,’ which are designed to keep stars from having to play overseas during the WNBA offseason.” But if anyone’s salary increase and marketing opportunities led them to opt out of overseas ball, they have yet to raise their hand and say so.  

The other component of the new CBA that will come into play in 2024 is the “WNBA Prioritization” clause, which will require 3+ year veterans to report back to their WNBA teams on time instead of missing training camp and preseason games when the EuroLeague playoffs extend into the start of the WNBA season. While the intent is commendable, it’s nerve-wracking for those who grew up without the WNBA and want to know there will be other options if the league ever takes a step back. If the EuroLeague doesn’t shift its schedule and the WNBA holds strong, many players will be caught in the middle and may be forced to choose between an often higher salary abroad and their lower WNBA salary back home.

It’s a concern top players in the W are taking seriously. On the Tea With A & Phee podcast this year, Lynx star Napheesa Collier discussed the issue with co-host and 2020 WNBA MVP A’ja Wilson. 

“Do you think players are going to opt out of playing in the WBNA to go overseas? Because you know most people make more money overseas and then you’d have the summer off,” Collier posited. “I feel like that was a bad move. You’re forcing players to choose. And if I’m not making that much in the league, it’s not enough for me to survive on during the year, then I’m going overseas and having the summer off.”

We still have a few years before players will be faced with these hard choices. In the meantime, the 2021-2022 international season is well underway and stocked full of WNBA talent as usual. Even the VanderQuigs have (hopefully) slept off their Championship celebration hangovers and are gearing up for the foreign stint of their double life. For the foreseeable future, this remains the reality for professional women’s basketball players.

BIG SHOTS. BIG PLAYMAKING. VANDERQUIGS ❤️

Married couple Allie Quigley and Courtney Vandersloot reflect on their #WNBAFinals run with @sportsiren 🏆 pic.twitter.com/7pIkHHxHLN

— espnW (@espnW) October 17, 2021

Resources on WNBAers Overseas: See this from The Next, this from Swish Appeal, and this (when updated) from WInsidr. About half of WNBA team pages have a link or news story listing overseas status of their players, but half isn’t enough, and they are not always kept up to date.

Star LSU guard Flau'jae Johnson knows exactly what she'd get head coach Kim Mulkey for Christmas.

"Blue crabs," she told Just Women's Sports in November, days before DICK'S Sporting Goods declared her Greatest Wrapper in the Game, a promotion touting the college senior's own wrapping paper line and online video series. "Me and her, we like to eat blue crab."

Ranked No. 5 in the AP Top 25 Women's College Basketball Poll, LSU is never far from the Final Four conversation. But Johnson — who's increasingly brought a personal touch to her leadership role on the Tigers — has ambitions that extend far beyond finishing out her collegiate career on top.

Already an NCAA champion with eyes on next year's WNBA draft, the 22-year-old dynamic guard  has cemented her legacy as a multi-talent. She's a decorated musician and rapper, an interdisciplinary studies major with a minor in sports administration, and a menace on the court with a motor that never quits. 

"I gotta be me first," she said — and that's the secret to her success.

As LSU's leading scorer, Flau'jae Johnson is off to the races

Johnson knows that the Tigers' nonconference schedule rarely features marquee matchups. 

"We don't play nobody in our nonconference schedule," she said. "From December on out, that's when it gets really [exciting]." 

Mulkey often schedules a slow start for the team, gradually building towards peak form once LSU enters SEC play in January.

That hasn't stopped the Tigers from showing the country what they're capable of this season. They've scored more than 100 points through all eight matchups so far, setting a new NCAA record for consecutive 100+ point games. 

Johnson's progress has featured heavily in every blowout win. She leads the team in points, assists, and three-point percentage per game. But she sees her greatest growth in the intangibles.

Flau'jae Johnson steps up as LSU coach Kim Mulkey's right hand

A self-described loner, Johnson strived to connect with new teammates throughout her four years in Baton Rouge. It's an especially important task as part of an LSU team that thrives through the transfer portal. 

The Tigers won the NCAA championship in 2023 — Johnson's freshman year — led by transfer forward Angel Reese, who was then joined the following year by high-profile transfers Hailey Van Lith and Aneesah Morrow. This season, former South Carolina Gamecock MiLaysia Fulwiley has entered the mix, with Johnson quickly creating chemistry. 

"Ballers just want to ball, like hoopers just want to hoop," she said. "You find different ways to bond and gel with teammates." 

When the accomplished hip hop artist's not in the groove working on music, she's trying to extend a hand to the team's freshest faces. "It's been a new job for me as a leader on the team," she said. "It's been easy though, because we just want to hoop."

Year-in, year-out, the Tigers' success relies on picking up instructions and learning schemes quickly, with Johnson — a player very comfortable with Mulkey's system — stepping up to take on the role of team liaison. 

"You've just got to read everybody, their emotions, how they're feeling, and you've just got to be there for everybody," she explained. "But that's not hard for me, because I'm an older sister."

Holiday trips and Secret Santas: Flau'jae Johnson's familial drive

Family is everything to Johnson. Being a college basketball star can make the holiday season tough, as the season runs straight through time she'd love to spend back home in Georgia. And with conference play on the horizon, she knows she has to stay focused on the court now more than ever.

"I kind of put that out of my mind, that I won't be with my family until I go pro, because it used to be hard on me seeing my little brothers go trick-or-treating and stuff without me," she reflected, noting how excited she was to use her own DICK'S wrapping paper to shower her family with gifts this year. 

Her favorite college holiday memory also involves her family, when her entire family traveled to the team's Thanksgiving tournament in the Bahamas. 

"My momma snuck food on the plane — literally the whole Thanksgiving, she cooked it and froze it and put it under the plane," she said, beaming. "And we had a smash Thanksgiving meal in freaking the Bahamas."

This year, Johnson's already looking forward to her team's annual Secret Santa exchange, while also planning to spend her limited time off this winter on a surprise family cabin trip to Colorado The world of NIL has opened up a whole new realm of possibilities for Johnson to spread her growing wealth, and she's taken to those opportunities with easy charm.

Setting sights on No. 1, from Baton Rouge to the WNBA

Far from settling for a decorated college run and lucrative personal brand, Johnson is also locked in on making a smooth transition to the WNBA. The calendar year for rising pros is a physical gauntlet, with the draft taking place just weeks after what LSU hopes will be a deep NCAA tournament campaign.

"I'm so ready to go pro," she said. "I really want to establish myself, to show I could be the number one pick in the draft. I feel like my talent level is there, but I've got to execute." 

"The W is fascinating," she added. "It's forever growing, and it's powerful women doing these things. So I'm just excited to be in that group."

Johnson has recently been focusing on her fitness, anticipating increased physicality at the pro level — while also aiming for balance. "They're not going to be swinging me around like I'm a little rag doll," she laughed. "[But] I feel like my mind is the most important part. I want to grow, I want to get better."

Of course, other than committing to winning at all levels, Johnson doesn't know exactly what her future holds. For now, she'll continue to make music, sharpen her game, and stay true to herself. As a player with so many gifts to give, the rest will come naturally.

Athletes Unlimited Softball League (AUSL) stocked up by adding 43 former NCAA and Olympic stars to its ranks on Monday night, with Talons utility player Maya Brady — niece of retired NFL legend Tom Brady — leading the charge as the No. 1 overall pick by the incoming Oklahoma City Spark in the league's expansion draft.

Starting the inaugural 2025 AUSL campaign on injured reserve, the former UCLA standout went on to feature in six games for the championship-winning Talons, registering one double, one home run, and five RBIs on the season.

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The now-six -team league absorbed the previously independent Spark as part of an initial expansion plan, acquiring the Oklahoma City-based squad with the intention of finding permanent homes for all AUSL teams in the near future.

Also joining the AUSL next year is new franchise Cascade, which snagged Volts pitcher and former University of Oklahoma ace Sam Landry as the No. 2 overall pick on Monday.

Though the four original teams protected five players each, the Spark and Cascade raided their rosters in the expansion draft, claiming stars like infielders Sydney Romero (Talons) and Jessi Warren (Volts) as well as pitchers Alana Vawter (Blaze) and Payton Gottshall (Volts) for their debut lineups.

Immediately following the expansion draft, all six teams took part in an allocation draft, selecting athletes from either the 2025 AUSL Reserve Pool or those previously competing outside the league.

Former Oklahoma and Oklahoma State pitcher Kelly Maxwell earned the top pick in the allocation draft, with the new Cascade player joined by other recent NCAA softball legends like former Sooners Kinzie Hansen, Jayda Coleman, and Jocelyn Alo, Florida State's Kat Sandercock and Sydney Sherrill, Washington's Sis Bates, and Clemson's Valerie Cagle.

US Soccer officially launched the Kang Women's Institute on Tuesday, creating a new platform dedicated to "advancing health, performance, and development for women and girls across the sport" funded by $55 million from multi-team owner Michele Kang.

"For far too long, women and girls have trained under systems and standards built for men, and the Kang Women's Institute is an essential first step in changing that," US Soccer president Cindy Parlow Cone said in a federation statement. "By grounding our work in real research and evidence, we can finally give female players the support, care, and understanding they deserve.

"This is the beginning of a much larger effort, and Michele has helped us take a huge leap forward in reshaping the future of the women's game for generations to come."

After adding a $25 million investment last April to her original $30 million pledge to US Soccer in 2024, Kang is going all in on addressing the stark lack of sports medicine and exercise science research into women athletes — and female physiology at-large.

"This Institute will put female athletes at the center of US Soccer's scientific research and build the evidence, systems, and standards that will allow women and girls to reach their full potential," promised Kang.

The Institute also outlined its early initiatives in Tuesday's press release, with injury prevention and workload management, developmental best practices, and physical and mental player well-being headlining the projects.

"This is not just about closing a research gap," said Kang. "It's about creating a future where every player has the knowledge, care, and opportunity to thrive."

The PWHL is rapidly looking to ramp up expansion, with EVP of business operations Amy Scheer saying this week that the third-year pro hockey league could welcome "two to four" new teams as soon as next year.

"If I was a betting woman, I'd say it'd be four teams. And then I think we'll hold at 12 for a bit," she told CNBC Sport, noting the league's immediate success with 2025/26 expansion sides the Vancouver Goldeneyes and the Seattle Torrent — the latter of which shattered the US women's hockey attendance record in their Friday home opener.

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Accordingly, the PWHL will continue testing possible new markets using the league's historically packed Takeover Tour, with this season's 11-city route expanding to feature seven new host venues.

"What does the support of women's sports look like there?" Scheer said, outlining the league's criteria for assessing potential markets. "If there's an NHL team, what does that look like? Or from the building, is there government support there? How does it impact travel? So there's a lot of factors."

As for the league's notably speedy expansion pace, Scheer told Front Office Sports that the PWHL has "proven that time is overrated."

"The more our numbers grow, the more value we have as a league, the more value we have against our partnerships we sell, the more merchandise we sell," Scheer explained. "Those two things — growth and profitability — are not separate."