Looks like Gabby won’t play in the W next year
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MilfordHusky
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I wonder if this will affect Johannes too. And Lou.
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Don't know about Lou .... Even if she has a conflict I don't think the priortization rule applies until the third or fourth year.
MilfordHusky
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I think you are right. Prioritization didn't apply to Johannes and shouldn't apply to Lou. I hope Chica makes an impression on the W and medals in Paris!
All the players need to do what is best for them but more importantly the leagues have to do what helps them make money so they will be around. After three years you should know if your future is brighter in the WNBA or elsewhere so make a pro choice and don't complain about it. I would add the league is going to add a couple players in the next couple years that might give them a quantum leap in popularity which could mean more money for all.
The league is almost certainly going to rule that Johannes has three years of service, subjecting her to the prioritization in rules in 2024, but her agent and the Liberty could certainly argue that she should only be at one year since she technically withheld service for the first 21 days of the season in both 2019 and this year.
Is Lou healthy enough to play in the next two months? It does not appear that she has signed anywhere overseas, so there are very limited opportunities for her to impress for a senior team callup in November, especially since she does not have sufficient youth national team experience to draw on, but France's coach did reportedly meet her in person during the college season. There is always the possibility that she decides to play for Mexico instead.
Is Lou healthy enough to play in the next two months? It does not appear that she has signed anywhere overseas, so there are very limited opportunities for her to impress for a senior team callup in November, especially since she does not have sufficient youth national team experience to draw on, but France's coach did reportedly meet her in person during the college season. There is always the possibility that she decides to play for Mexico instead.
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The rule, whiile fair or not, was put in place and approved as part of the CBA. Gabby had a choice, she made one, and it appears to be the best decision for her. Gabby won't be the only player impacted.
MSGRET
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With the Olympics coming up next year, many foreign players will be busy with their National team's process. It's easy for the USA team players because the WNBA makes the effort of having them available for their practices. Many foreign teams have numerous practices with some being done during the WNBA regular season, making it difficult for some of them to meet the W's rules.
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"Players are also still allowed to arrive late or leave temporarily during the season to represent their national teams in major international competitions without violating these rules, as long as it's for no more than two weeks of training before the relevant competition begins and they return to their WNBA team within 48 hours of their national team's play being completed. Players are also allowed to leave or be late due to 'a significant life event' (e.g., a graduation ceremony or a death in the family)."
WNBA CBA & Salary Cap FAQ
Explains the details of the WNBA CBA and Salary Cap rules in clear language - from Her Hoop Stats
MSGRET
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Many National teams have more than two weeks of training and most of them have it at the time that the WNBA plays. Most other countries have their season at the same time as the NBA has and have their National team practices and tryouts during the WNBA season, so it punishes the International players vs the U.S. players."Players are also still allowed to arrive late or leave temporarily during the season to represent their national teams in major international competitions without violating these rules, as long as it's for no more than two weeks of training before the relevant competition begins and they return to their WNBA team within 48 hours of their national team's play being completed. Players are also allowed to leave or be late due to 'a significant life event' (e.g., a graduation ceremony or a death in the family)."
WNBA CBA & Salary Cap FAQ
Explains the details of the WNBA CBA and Salary Cap rules in clear language - from Her Hoop Statsherhoopstats.com
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Actually, most other countries have planned breaks in their seasons to accommodate practices/tryouts.
MSGRET
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FIBA had their EuroBasket Women's Tournament from 06/15 to 06/25 with games in Israel and Slovenia with 16 teams participating. Many of those teams had tryouts in mid to late May for the tournament, which Gabby was not able to participate in the tryouts or the tournament because of the WNBA rules. France by the way finished in 3rd place.
Every UConn player got better treatment at UConn vs the W. They traveled on charter planes to their away games, had access to facilities with dedicated practice gym, weight room, treatment and rehab facility with the best medical assistance. Some of the WNBA teams do not have any of this and none of them travel via charter flights.
For Gabby she is better off playing in France so that she is able to participate with the National team when they have team practice in preparation for the Olympics and other FIBA tournaments.
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You get no argument from me ... I've argued in the past that some players would be better off playing in Europe and forgoing the WNBA.
EuroBasket is a quadrennial event, happening once every four years. If a player feels strongly about playing for their country I'm sure they will have no problem sitting out the WNBA one year in four (if that happens).
Emma Messeman was the MVP of EuroBasket this year .... did she sit out the WNBA this year?
MilfordHusky
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Folks should keep in mind that Gabby is half French, as her mother is from there. In addition, Gabby has dual citizenship.
EuroBasket and all of the other continental events are every other year with the World Cup and Olympics filling the two other years of each four year cycle. As you mentioned in an earlier post, qualifying games for EuroBasket are played during the November and February national team breaks that most top division leagues in Europe observe.
Meesseman did not sign in the WNBA this season, both to participate in Belgium's entire training camp and to be available for the start of the season for her club team Fenerbahce (since she is not an American citizen, the lower tax rate in Turkey means that playing there is even more relatively financially beneficial to her). Obviously Meesseman is a big enough star that Belgium would accommodate her if she asked to wait until the prioritization-compliant window to report, but among resourced national federations, you are generally considered a bad teammate if you are not at least physically there and team chemistry is important at EuroBasket. Italy had some controversy this summer when the federation allowed Lorela Cubaj to skip part of training camp to try to keep her WNBA roster spot. Hungary's coach knew that Dorka would be risking her WNBA contract to play in EuroBasket so there was an understanding that they will wait until November to call her up to the squad.