Liz Cambage is returning to the basketball court. The former WNBA star has signed a three-month contract worth $1 million to join Chinese team Sichuan.
The contract is set to begin next year, per a report from an Australian newspaper, includes significant bonus clauses in addition to the base salary.
Cambage, who left the WNBA in July 2022 after a fallout with the Los Angeles Sparks, has criticized the U.S. league for its low salaries. The WNBA supermax salary for 2024 is set at $241,984, a quarter of what Cambage is set to make for her stint in China.
Conflict on and off the court marred Cambage’s time with the Sparks. Reports emerged of Cambage criticizing teammates, expressing discontent with her role on the team and taking a jersey number from a teammate. The 32-year-old center also had a falling out with the Australian national team following allegations of racism toward the Nigerian national team.
Cambage signed with Maccabi Bnot Ashdod, a team in Israel’s Division I league, in March.
Her next international gig is a return to familiar territory for Cambage, who has spent significant time playing in China. She joined the Zhejiang Golden Bulls of the Chinese Basketball Association back in 2012, and she also has played for the Beijing Great Wall and Shanghai Swordfish. Her last stint in China was with the Shanxi Flame from 2018 to 2019.
“I have always loved my time in China and I am really looking forward to getting out onto the court again,” she told Australia’s Herald Sun. “It’s one of the strongest leagues in the world and I have played many seasons there over the years.”
A year after Liz Cambage and the Sparks agreed to a contract divorce and her time in Los Angeles came to an unceremonious end, the Australian basketball star has emerged from a quiet year to speak about the Sparks, the WNBA and the controversy that’s plagued her career.
Cambage joined Bleacher Report’s Taylor Rooks for an explosive interview that dropped Monday. During the conversation, which lasted an hour and a half, Cambage denied allegations that she used a racial slur toward the Nigerian national team and said she left the Sparks halfway through last season because of a “toxic situation,” among other topics.
The Sparks have not commented on the claims nor addressed Cambage’s departure since releasing the following statement during the 2022 season:
“It is with support that we share Liz Cambage’s decision to terminate her contract with the organization,” Sparks Managing Partner Eric Holoman said last July. “We want what’s best for Liz and have agreed to part ways amicably. The Sparks remain excited about our core group and are focused on our run towards a 2022 playoff berth.”
The Sparks also did not respond to a request for comment from Just Women’s Sports. Meanwhile, many are questioning the validity of Cambage’s claims, including former teammates and opponents.
Cambage opened the interview by discussing her decision to leave L.A. after 25 games in 2022. The four-time WNBA All-Star said she signed with the Sparks on a “Hollywood lie” that included the organization offering to buy her a car, pay her rent and cover other expenses.
Per the WNBA’s collective bargaining agreement, such perks would appear to fall under the category of impermissible benefits. Cambage was set to earn $170,000 in 2022 after signing a one-year deal with the Sparks that February, and she reportedly agreed to $141,386 in exchange for the contract divorce.
Cambage went on to tell Rooks that she left in the middle of the season to get out of a “toxic” environment.
“I’m dealing with a lot of disrespect, a lot of turbulent players in the locker room,” she said. “I’m telling coaches, I’m telling the GM, I’m telling ownership what’s going on, and no one cares.”
Cambage ultimately decided to leave the team during a regular-season game against the Las Vegas Aces on July 23. She said her Sparks teammates were “yelling at her” because “they didn’t know how to make a lob pass,” and after an Aces player took a charge against her and she got subbed out, she told Chiney Ogwumike that she was “done.”
Former Sparks teammate Jordin Canada took to Twitter on Tuesday to dispute the claims that Cambage was mistreated.
“I usually keep to myself and mind my business but Bleacher Report if y’all want the REAL TRUTH, call me,” Canada wrote.
Cambage’s exit from the Sparks last season was messy, but not necessarily surprising. Since being drafted in 2011, Cambage has played for 12 different teams, four in the WNBA and several overseas in China, Australia and Israel. She has never played consecutive seasons with one team.
Her WNBA stints include being drafted by Tulsa in 2011, a team Cambage was vocal about not wanting to play for. She spent one season there before leaving to play in China. She came back in 2013 to play 20 games with the Shock before exiting the WNBA until 2018. She then played a season in Dallas and two seasons in Las Vegas (with a year off in between), before playing part of the 2022 season in L.A.
Cambage wasn’t the only source of dysfunction in L.A. last season. The Sparks fired head coach and general manager Derek Fisher in June after a disappointing tenure. Chennedy Carter, the mercurial talent whom Fisher reportedly pushed the team to sign in the offseason, was benched during the season for poor conduct and waived this past March.
Cambage told Rooks that she doesn’t understand why her short stints across the WNBA are controversial, saying she “knows girls who have played for every team.” Cambage referenced Candace Parker as someone who’s played for multiple franchises. The two-time WNBA champion has been in the league for 16 seasons, playing 13 in L.A. and two in Chicago before signing with the Aces before this season.
Outside of the WNBA, Cambage also controversially parted ways with the Australian national team in 2021, citing mental health concerns as part of her reasoning not to represent the team. This followed a pre-Olympics scrimmage with Nigeria, in which an on-court altercation ensued and Cambage allegedly directed a racial slur at Nigeria’s players.
In the interview, Cambage said the video footage from the scrimmage would prove she didn’t do anything wrong and that she was “assaulted.” The video, circulated on Tuesday, shows a Nigerian player ran at Cambage on the sideline and struck her with a punch. The video also shows Cambage’s elbow making contact with the player’s head on the court prior to the altercation.
Following the scrimmage in 2021, both Australian and Nigerian players said that Cambage called the Nigerian players “monkeys” and told them to “go back to their third-world country.”
Cambage denied making the remarks in her interview with Rooks and said she was in talks to play for the Nigerian team in the future. Cambage’s father is Nigerian.
Nigeria guard Promise Amukamara disputed both claims on Twitter, saying, “She called us Monkeys & told us to go back to our country. Yes she said that! Literally everyone from both teams have the same story BUT her, so y’all do the math!”
Amukamara also denied that Cambage was in talks to play for Nigeria, something her teammate Sarah Ogoke echoed on Twitter.
“We are not recruiting you and you definitely spewed racist profanities against us during our scrimmage,” Ogoke wrote.
Babs Ogunade, Vice President of the Nigeria Basketball Federation, later told ESPN reporter Colin Udoh that there was no truth to Cambage’s claim that she was “in cahoots” with Nigeria to switch her allegiance and play for them.
“Disregard the news,” he said. “I don’t know who she is talking to. Not me and definitely not (NBBF President) Kida.”
Cambage attempted to clarify her comments in a statement on Twitter on Tuesday. While she continued to deny using a racial slur against the Nigerian players, she also said she never stated that she had “officially joined the Nigerian national team.”
“Instead, I expressed my interest in joining the team and representing Nigeria,” Cambage wrote. “I had discussions with staff members about the necessary steps to become eligible, and thought I was doing them. I extend my best wishes to all players on D’Tigress.”
Eden Laase is a Staff Writer at Just Women’s Sports. Follow her on Twitter @eden_laase.
Liz Cambage attempted to “set the record straight” on her relationship with the Nigeria women’s national team after receiving blowback for her interview Monday with Bleacher Report’s Taylor Rooks.
The former WNBA star issued a statement on social media in which she continued to deny ever directing a racial slur at Nigerian players, despite reports to the contrary from the Nigerian players themselves. Cambage also looked to clarify her comments on potentially joining the Nigeria team.
During her interview with Bleacher Report, Cambage denied using a slur during a pre-Olympics scrimmage with the Australia national basketball team in 2021. Instead, she claimed she is being used as a “scapegoat.”
“Why does Nigeria want me to leave Australia and go and represent them?” said Cambage, whose father is Nigerian. “We’re filing for me to leave the Australian team, so I can represent Nigeria. I’ve been in cahoots, I’ve been talking to them since all of this happened. This is what I mean, people don’t know the truth.”
After the interview, Nigerian players Promise Amukamara and Sarah Ogoke both took to social media to refute Cambage’s assertions.
“We are not recruiting you and you definitely spewed racist profanities against us during our scrimmage,” Ogoke wrote.
Also after the interview, a video of the scrimmage circulated on social media, which shows Cambage hitting a Nigeria player in the head during a play, followed by the Nigerian player charging toward Cambage and knocking her down.
“The circulating video portrays a highly physical game with no officiating, resulting in me being attacked and sustaining a concussion,” Cambage said in her statement. “Contrary to false claims I did not use racial slurs or refer to anyone as a monkey, which is evident from the footage.”
As for Cambage’s desire to play for Nigeria, Nigerian basketball officials have denied speaking with Cambage about playing for the national team, ESPN contributor Colin Udoh reported Tuesday.
“To set the record straight, I never stated that I had officially joined the Nigerian national team,” Cambage said in her statement. “Instead, I expressed my interest in joining the team and representing Nigeria. I had discussions with staff members about the necessary steps to become eligible, and thought I was doing them. I extend my best wishes to all players on D’Tigress.”
— Elizabeth Cambage (@ecambage) August 9, 2023
Liz Cambage, who allegedly directed a racial slur at Nigerian players while playing for the Australia national basketball team in 2021, now intends to play for Nigeria — or so she claimed Monday in an interview with Bleacher Report’s Taylor Rooks.
The former WNBA star also denied using a slur, instead saying she is being used as a “scapegoat” by the Australian Opals.
“Why does Nigeria want me to leave Australia and go and represent them?” said Cambage, whose father is Nigerian. “We’re filing for me to leave the Australian team, so I can represent Nigeria. I’ve been in cahoots, I’ve been talking to them since all of this happened. This is what I mean, people don’t know the truth.”
Several Nigerian players and basketball officials have disputed both of Cambage’s assertions. Cambage is not in talks to play for the Nigeria national team, and she did indeed direct a slur at its players during a 2021 scrimmage, Nigerian representatives said.
“I’m sorry but this is false,” Nigerian guard Promise Amukamara wrote Monday as part of a Twitter thread. “She called us monkeys and told us to go back to our country. Yes she said that!
“Literally everyone from both teams have the same story BUT her, so y’all do the math!”
Literally everyone from both teams have the same story BUT her, so y’all do the math!
— Promise Amukamara, OLY (@iPromisee) August 7, 2023
Nigerian guard Sarah Ogoke also weighed in, writing: “We are not recruiting you and you definitely spewed racist profanities against us during our scrimmage.”
Jordin Canada, who played with Cambage during her brief and rocky tenure with the Los Angeles Sparks in 2022, also pushed back after the interview. “I usually keep to myself and mind my business but Bleacher Report if y’all want the REAL TRUTH, call me,” Canada wrote.
Nigerian basketball officials also have denied speaking with Cambage about playing for the national team, ESPN contributor Colin Udoh reported Tuesday.
“I don’t know who she’s talking to,” Nigeria Basketball Federation vice president Babs Ogunade told Udoh.
When Cambage went to the Nigerian team to apologize in the immediate aftermath of the 2021 scrimmage, she brought up the possibility of playing for Nigeria with then-coach Otis Hughely, but the discussions have not progressed further, per Udoh’s report and Amukamara’s Twitter thread.
Meanwhile, Australia coach Sandy Brondello has cut short any speculation about a return to the Opals, telling CodeSports on Aug. 4 that the “door has closed” on Cambage’s time with the team.
“We spend a lot of time on culture and if you can’t buy into the culture, I won’t pick you,” Brondello said. “It is as simple as that.”
In her interview with Bleacher Report, Cambage detailed her struggles with the Opals, from teammates wearing blackface to coaches fostering friction between teammates. And she expressed optimism about the possibility of playing for Nigeria at the 2024 Olympics in Paris.
“I really hope Australia releases me and FIBA allows it because my fans miss me playing,” she said. “I would love to do another Olympics. Paris would be fab… My last Olympics was hideous. Rio Olympics was horrible. The Rio Olympics was one of the worst times of my life, and that’s a reflection of the coaching staff and the team.
“I would love to start fresh with teammates that understand me, look like me and appreciate me and respect me. I have been talking with the Nigerian coach. It was every day when this all first happened. Coach Otis and I are pretty tight and he has my back.”
Cambage concluded the interview once more emphasizing her desire to play for Nigeria.
“I really hope it happens because I want to go to another Olympics,” she said, “And I really respect those girlies.”
Liz Cambage is playing basketball again.
The Australian center signed with Maccabi Bnot Ashdod, a team in Israel’s Division I league, the team announced on its social media. Maccabi Bnot Ashdod holds the No. 1 spot in the league standings and is also home to Natisha Hiedeman, Shatori Walker-Kimbrough and Kalani Brown.
In international 🏀news — Australian center Liz Cambage has officially signed with Maccabi Bnot Ashdod in Israel.
— Ben Pickman (@benpickman) March 3, 2023
Ashdod, currently No. 1 in the IL league, also has Natisha Hiedeman, Shatori Walker-Kimbrough and Kalani Brown (who is out). It's coached by Le'coe Willingham. pic.twitter.com/epkJWcpVTA
Cambage last played for the Los Angeles Sparks but departed from the team before the season ended. She later announced that she planned to “step away” from the WNBA.
Conflict on and off the court marred Cambage’s time with the Sparks. Reports emerged of Cambage criticizing teammates, expressing discontent with her role on the team and taking a jersey number from a teammate.
Previously, Cambage has been candid about her mental health struggles, which she has also cited in her decision to withdraw from the Tokyo Olympics.
Reports on the circumstances surrounding her withdrawal from the Australian national team, though, detailed a physical altercation between Cambage and members of the Nigerian national team during a closed-door scrimmage. She also reportedly directed a racist slur at Nigerian players, though Cambage has denied using the slur.
When she takes the court in Israel, she will add to her international résumé. She also has played in China, Australia and New Zealand.
Liz Cambage has decided to “step away” from the WNBA after her rocky contract divorce from the Los Angeles Sparks, she announced Monday via Instagram.
The 30-year-old center and the Sparks agreed to a contract divorce in late July, less than six months after she signed with the team as a free agent in the offseason.
“I’m sorry to have left abruptly and I wish it would have ended on a different note,” Cambage wrote in an Instagram caption. “I’ve decided to step away from the league for the time being and I’m hopeful that the WNBA will do their part in creating safer environments and a stronger support system for their players.”
Conflict on and off the court marred Cambage’s time with the Sparks. She criticized teammates during film sessions, expressed discontent with her role on the team and took a jersey number from a teammate, Yahoo Sports reported following the contract divorce.
In Monday’s post, though, the four-time WNBA All-Star extended an olive branch to the team, which ended the regular season just outside the playoff picture.
“Playing for the Sparks was a dream come true and I’m honored to have shared the court with such amazing ladies for as long as we did,” Cambage wrote.
Cambage previously has discussed her mental health struggles, which the Australian cited in her decision to withdraw from the Tokyo Olympics last summer.
“I’m halfway through a WNBA season, I’ve been dealing with health issues, I’ve been having panic attacks and vomiting during WNBA games,” she said last August on an episode of HBO’s “The Shop: Uninterrupted.”
Her withdrawal from the Australian national team, though, created waves into this season. Reports emerged in May that Cambage had gotten into a physical altercation with the Nigerian national team during a scrimmage ahead of the Games and had directed a racial slur at Nigerian players. Cambage denied that she used a slur.
An Australian teammate told the Daily Telegraph that the scrimmage was a breaking point for the Opals.
“There had been so many behavioral issues that had gone on previously that we could write a book, but that incident happened to be the final straw which happened to be the worst one,” the teammate said.
In her post Monday, Cambage said she would take some time to focus on healing and personal growth before “providing clarification on past rumors.”
Sparks interim coach Fred Williams – who has known Cambage since their time together with the Dallas Wings – spoke about Cambage’s exit soon after it happened.
“It was a surprise,” Williams said. “But I have to respect what she wants. Once a person gives you that verbally what she wants, you have to listen because it could be something else, could be something that’s not related to basketball.”
Amid rumors that Liz Cambage “quit” the team after playing 24 games in Los Angeles, she and the Sparks have agreed to a “contract divorce,” the team announced Tuesday.
“It is with support that we share Liz Cambage’s decision to terminate her contract with the organization,” said Sparks Managing Partner Eric Holoman. “We want what’s best for Liz and have agreed to part ways amicably. The Sparks remain excited about our core group and are focused on our run towards a 2022 playoff berth.”
According to a Yahoo Sports report, Cambage exited the locker room after her team’s 84-66 loss to the Aces, her former squad, and left the team with a parting message: “I can’t do this anymore. Best of luck to you guys.”
Cambage is not the first to go through a contract divorce this season. It’s a term WNBA fans have heard four other times in 2022. The most significant, and most recent, was that of eight-time All-Star Tina Charles, who departed the Mercury on June 25 before joining the Storm. Angel McCoughtry (Lynx), Jantel Lavender (Fever) and Bria Hartley (Fever) have also negotiated contract divorces from their respective teams.
Here’s Cambage’s situation, explained.
What is a contract divorce?
A contract divorce is pretty much what it sounds like. The two parties — in this case, Cambage and the Sparks — agree to terminate their legally binding agreement in a way in which both sides benefit. Essentially, it’s a fancy term for a buyout.
Cambage, who signed a one-year, $170,000 deal with the Sparks in February, reportedly agreed to $141,386 in exchange for the contract divorce. That figure reflects the per-game rate of the 25 games she played for the Sparks this season.
The Sparks’ chemistry issues have been building all season, according to multiple reports. While a preseason of heightened expectations turned into lackluster performances, the sixth-place Sparks remain in the playoff hunt at 12-15 with nine games to play. The team clearly feels it will no longer benefit from Cambage’s services, and the 30-year-old no longer wishes to play for L.A.
What does it mean for the Sparks?
Beyond what was going on behind the scenes and in conversations and body language on the court, the 6-foot-8 center was making an impact on the Sparks’ box score. She was L.A.’s second-leading scorer and rebounder, averaging 13 points, 6.4 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game. Defensively, she led the Sparks with 1.6 blocks per contest.
Without Cambage, the Sparks will need to find someone — or more than likely, a combination of people — to replace her 24.5 minutes per game. At first glance, losing Cambage’s on-court abilities isn’t ideal for the playoff hopeful Sparks. But chemistry issues among players have a way of coming out in high-pressure situations. Replacing Cambage won’t be easy, but it’s better to part ways now than to wait and have the team fall apart in the postseason. At least this way, the Sparks have time to figure out a solution.
As it stands, their options at the post position are limited. After Nneka Ogwumike, who at 18.7 points and 6.8 rebounds per game is likely maxed out in terms of production, the Sparks have four forwards/centers listed on their roster. One is Katie Lou Samuelson, who is more of a guard. They will likely turn to Chiney Ogwumike, who out of the remaining forwards plays the most minutes (18.5) and has the highest production (7.5 points). After her, Olivia Nelson-Ododa and Jasmine Walker combine to average 4.2 points per game.
To make matters worse, Cambage’s departure isn’t the only dramatic exit the Sparks have endured in recent years.
In 2021, both Candace Parker and Chelsea Gray left the team as free agents, with Parker signing with the Sky and Gray with the Aces. Losing a player in free agency isn’t as dramatic as a contract divorce, of course, but it begs the question: “How did L.A. lose not one, but two top talents to other teams?”
It wasn’t a good look for the Sparks, and led to continued questions about coach and GM Derek Fisher’s leadership. Those questions came to a head on June 7 when he was let go.
There’s also the issue of Chennedy Carter, who signed with the Sparks in free agency after a contentious 2021 season with the Dream. Despite internal opposition to the move, as The Athletic has reported, Fisher pushed for the Sparks to trade for Carter. The guard, after not playing the second half of last season while suspended, has averaged just 15.3 minutes across 19 games for Los Angeles this year.
The Sparks, despite all the turmoil, are somehow still in the playoff hunt. The best they can do at this point is muddle through the rest of the season, hope for a playoff berth and then get to work on a total rebuild in the offseason.
What does it mean for Liz Cambage?
This isn’t the first time Cambage has been embroiled in controversy. Most recently she had a messy exit from the Opals, Australia’s women’s national team. In November, Cambage was reprimanded for an on-court altercation during a practice game with Nigeria. She then withdrew from the Tokyo Olympic team, citing mental health concerns and eventually said on Instagram that she would never play for the team again.
The exact details of the altercation are unknown, with plenty of rumors swirling. But former Opals teammate Jenna O’Hea confirmed to Australian journalist Kelli Underwood in May that Cambage had told Nigerian players to “go back to your third world country.”
Cambage denies the claim.
It’s not a stretch to see the connections between Cambage’s supposed comments about Nigeria and her exit from the Sparks. Nneka and Chiney Ogwumike, two of her LA teammates, are Nigerian and seeking to play for the Nigerian national team.
It’s also not a stretch to say that we may not see Cambage in the WNBA again.
After Cambage’s rookie season with the Tulsa Shock in 2011, she left the WNBA for four seasons because she didn’t want to play for the franchise. Her exit from Tulsa started in 2012, when Cambage said she would sit out the rest of the season following the Olympics due to exhaustion. She did not return to Tulsa, instead choosing to sign with a team in China.
It’s worth noting that Cambage has not played more than one consecutive season with any WNBA squad since being drafted in 2011, a tenure that included stops in Dallas and Las Vegas. With her latest departure, Cambage may no longer be a risk teams are willing to take.
Eden Laase is a Staff Writer at Just Women’s Sports. Follow her on Twitter @eden_laase.
Conflict on and off the court marred Liz Cambage’s brief tenure with the Los Angeles Sparks, Yahoo Sports reported Tuesday night.
The star center and the team agreed to a contract divorce, the Sparks announced Tuesday, less than six months after she signed with the team as a free agent.
Her issues with the Sparks came to a head Saturday during the team’s matchup with her former team, the Las Vegas Aces, Yahoo Sports reported. Cambage was unhappy with her touches, which led to her teammates force-feeding her the ball out of annoyance in the 84-66 blowout loss, sources told Yahoo’s Chris Haynes.
Cambage, who ended with 11 points and five rebounds through 22 minutes, said on her way out of the locker room that she “can’t do this anymore” before wishing the team “best of luck,” according to the report.
Concerns surrounding Cambage predated her time with Los Angeles. Multiple Sparks players acknowledged that a focused Cambage could help the team, but they expressed concern over her issues on past teams, sources told Yahoo Sports.
Still, then-head coach and general manager Derek Fisher brought Cambage into the fold. He later was fired by the team in June.
The starting center made waves before the season even started with a jersey number swap. Cambage requested to wear No. 8, but the Sparks were retiring that number to honor DeLisha Milton-Jones. Instead, she requested to wear No. 1, which already belonged to forward Amanda Zahui B., per Yahoo Sports.
Zahui B. was approached by Fisher about a number swap, but she politely declined. Eventually, though, management opted to give the number to Cambage anyway — and Zahui B. learned of the switch via social media, Yahoo Sports reported.
In an unrelated move, Zahui B. was suspended by the Sparks for the 2022 season. Fisher cited Zahui B.’s overseas commitments, which he believed would have forced her to miss up to 13 games of the regular season.
During the season, Cambage criticized teammates during film sessions and accused them of not giving her the ball, Yahoo Sports reported.
The Sparks issues, though, extend beyond Cambage. Players expressed dismay over a perceived lack of leadership and accountability in the franchise, according to Yahoo Sports.
Another sticking point is the the team’s practice location, Jump Beyond Sports complex, which was chosen by Fisher and his staff prior to the season.
“An AAU team wouldn’t want to play there,” one player told Yahoo Sports.
Some of the Sparks’ practices in July have been held at USC and Crypto.com Arena instead, per Yahoo Sports.
Still, despite the strife, the team sits in playoff position in sixth place in the WNBA standings. The league’s top eight teams make the postseason.
“The mindset of the players is to keep moving on,” interim head coach Fred Williams said. “You’ve got to move forward. It’s one player’s decision to do what she needs to do.”
During a scheduled media session Tuesday, Williams – who has known Cambage since their time together in Dallas – addressed Cambage’s exit, saying the team “respects” her decision to leave.
“I was really, I was surprised a little,” Williams said. “It was kind of an emotional shock. A lot of it was she played her former team that she’s with and a lot of emotions flew around. It was a surprise. But I have to respect what she wants.
“Once a person gives you that verbally what she wants, you have to listen because it could be something else, could be something that’s not related to basketball.”
Liz Cambage and the Los Angeles Sparks have agreed to a contract divorce, the team announced Tuesday.
“It is with support that we share Liz Cambage’s decision to terminate her contract with the organization,” Sparks managing partner Eric Holoman said in a statement. “We want what’s best for Liz and have agreed to part ways amicably. The Sparks remain excited about our core group and are focused on our run towards a 2022 playoff berth.”
Cambage’s departure was first reported Monday night by The Ball Out. The Athletic’s Chantel Jennings confirmed the report Tuesday morning.
The star center joined the Sparks via free agency last offseason from the Las Vegas Aces.
“There’s truly nowhere else I have wanted to be in the WNBA and I’m just happy that I’m finally here after so many years,” Cambage said at the time.
She also said that the team would have a WNBA championship by the end of the season.
“Crowd’s gonna be lit. Building’s gonna be lit. Women’s basketball is going to be lit. It’s going to be the most wild summer the WNBA’s ever seen. That’s how I think this summer’s going to go,” the 30-year-old center declared. “And we’re going to have a ring at the end of it.”
But the season hasn’t gone according to plan. In early June, the Sparks parted ways with head coach and general manager Derek Fisher, with Fred Williams stepping in as interim head coach for the remainder of the season. Williams, however, soon will be leaving to serve as the next associate head coach of Auburn women’s basketball.
Cambage also has created a stir due to reports stemming from her split with the Australian national team in the lead-up to last summer’s Tokyo Olympics.
Reports surfaced in May that the Australian center had gotten into a physical altercation with the Nigerian national team during a scrimmage ahead of the Games and had directed a racial slur at Nigerian players. Cambage denied that she used a slur.
“I did not use the racial slur towards the Nigerian team that has been circulating,” Cambage wrote on Instagram. “I have taken responsibility and accountability for my involvement in what occurred. I genuinely apologised to the Nigerian team and I once again, am sorry that these events are being rehashed.”
An Australian teammate, though, told the Daily Telegraph that the scrimmage was a breaking point for the Opals. Cambage withdrew from the Olympics soon afterward, citing her mental health.
“There had been so many behavioral issues that had gone on previously that we could write a book, but that incident happened to be the final straw which happened to be the worst one,” the teammate said.
In the wake of the allegations, the Sparks claimed that all was well within the organization. After internal conversations, the Sparks made the decision that Cambage would be “a welcome part of our team,” Fisher said.
Sparks forward Nneka Ogwumike, who unsuccessfully petitioned to play for the Nigerian national team at the Tokyo Olympics, called out the timing of the report and said the team “got past it.”
“Whatever agenda is happening with it resurfacing, that’s other people’s business,” she said. “And quite frankly, we talked about it before she came to the team and, granted, people have their own accounts of what happened, but we addressed it and we talked about how important it is for us to be together, be transparent and also empower giving people second chances.”
Cambage told Australia’s ABC network ahead of the season that she was “living [her] best life” with the Sparks while being “supported” and “protected on a level that the Opals or the Australian team never gave me.”
Khristina Williams of Girls Talk Sports reported Tuesday that Cambage had made clear her intentions to leave the Sparks to multiple individuals within the organization. A source close to the team told Williams that there were “chemistry issues” amongst players that “date back to late May.”
The center has played in 25 games for the Sparks this season, averaging 13.0 points, 6.4 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.6 blocks per game.
Cambage isn’t the first player to make a surprise departure from her team this season. The Phoenix Mercury and Tina Charles agreed to a contract divorce in June, and Charles later joined the Seattle Storm.
The WNBA is making inquiries into an incident from last summer in which Liz Cambage reportedly directed a racial slur at the Nigerian national team during a closed-door scrimmage with Australia.
The Daily Telegraph reported last week that Cambage, who was playing for the Australian national team, elbowed a Nigerian player in the head and slapped another. Members of the Nigerian team interviewed by the newspaper said Cambage called them “monkeys” and told them to “go back to your third-world country.”
WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert said Tuesday night that the WNBA is “looking into” the incident but that it has been difficult to obtain information.
“When this happened in 2021, Liz wasn’t playing for the WNBA,” Engelbert said, via Winsidr. “We made inquiries, asked for videos, [and the Australian Olympics Team] came out with that she was no longer playing for the team.”
When the new details came to light last week, the WNBA made inquiries again.
“With the information one to two weeks ago, my general counsel’s office is asking what additional information we can get,” she continued. “We’ve made requests, and those inquiries are ongoing. You don’t want to weigh in without having the facts, but we’re certainly looking into the matter.”
Cambage has denied the allegations, saying that she “did not use the racial slur” that has been circulating.
“I have taken responsibility and accountability for my involvement in what occurred,” she wrote on Instagram. “I genuinely apologised to the Nigerian team and I once again, am sorry that these events are being rehashed.”
She withdrew from last summer’s Olympics after the incident, citing her mental health.
In early May, prior to the report in The Daily Telegraph, former Australian national team basketball captain Jenna O’Hea confirmed that there was an altercation with the Nigerian team during the scrimmage during an interview with “Offsiders.”
“I can hold my head up high and say that I always loved her, always cared for her, always supported her, always had her back,” said O’Hea of Cambage’s comments that she didn’t feel supported by the Australian national team.
According to The Daily Telegraph, one Australian teammate said that the Las Vegas incident was a breaking point.
“There had been so many behavioral issues that had gone on previously that we could write a book, but that (Vegas) incident happened to be the final straw which happened to be the worst one,” the teammate said.
Cambage is playing with the Los Angeles Sparks this season. The Sparks next play Saturday against the Las Vegas Aces, Cambage’s former team.