DeSouza Leaves Dream to play for Brazil

[Wbbfan1]

Erika DeSouza - Link

This hurts the Dream and probably means Fever go to the WNBA Finals

This makes me think what will the WNBA do during the Olympics next year. There has to be players who play for their National Teams that won't play in the WNBA next year.

 

[EricLA]

not unexpected but could pave the way for Indiana to have a cake walk to the finals, as you said. too bad for them. Bales will have to step up big time now if they want to survive...

 

[UConnCat]

This makes me think what will the WNBA do during the Olympics next year. There has to be players who play for their National Teams that won't play in the WNBA next year.

The WNBA will take a break (approx 1 month) for the Olympics just like it did in 2008. I think the WNBA might also start its season a little earlier but I'm not sure about that.

Lauren Jackson has already reached an agreement with the Storm that allows her to miss the pre-Olympic part of the WNBA season in order to train with the Austrailian team. She'll join the Storm after the Olympics. I'm not sure if Penny Taylor will do the same but I think the Australian coach (Graf) is pushing her players to commit to the ANT and skip the early part of the WNBA season.

 

[Wbbfan1]

Hard to start the WNBA season earlier since majority of the WNBA stars play overseas where they make the most money and their overseas seasons won't be over.

 

[UConnCat]

Hard to start the WNBA season earlier since majority of the WNBA stars play overseas where they make the most money and their overseas seasons won't be over.

That's exactly what the WNBA did in 2008. The WNBA started its regular season approximately 2 weeks earlier because of the Olympic break. I expect it to do the same in 2012.

 

[Scotter]

Erika DeSouza - Link

This hurts the Dream and probably means Fever go to the WNBA Finals

This makes me think what will the WNBA do during the Olympics next year. There has to be players who play for their National Teams that won't play in the WNBA next year.

The WNBA will do the same thing it has done the last three times the Olympics have been played. Start about two weeks earlier and go about a week longer to accommodate the roughly three week break for the Olympics. Players staying with their national teams in an Olympic summer isn't something new. International players that don't report to camp will be suspended for not reporting to camp just as an American was this season in Janel McCarville. Teams are allowed to fill the roster spot or a suspended player so it is actually less of an issue than when a player suffers a season ending injury. And if an international player decides to play the second half of the season then they will be taken off suspension and the team will have to cut someone.

 

[Dairyair]

IIRC, the WNBA started early but without 99% of their stars, who were still overseas, as Wbbfan1 noted above. Made for some ugly games early, and I think an even greater percentage of players are going overseas than they did last Olympics.