There's a LOT more to this article than a great piece on Gabby.
It talks about how sleazy and underhanded the Sky were in dealing with her:
Williams, then a member of the Chicago Sky, was set to fulfill a personal and familial dream by competing for the French national team in EuroBasket and the Tokyo Olympics, both of which would be her first participation in such events. Williams’ international commitments, though, would require her to miss nearly three months of the WNBA season.
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I was asked not to go,” Williams said of her interaction with the Sky’s front office.
According to Williams, an understanding had been reached between both parties: Williams would start the year overseas, and James Wade, then the general manager and head coach of Chicago, would seek to trade her.
A week before the 2021 season began, however, the Sky shocked Williams by suspending her contract. She learned of her suspension via social media.
After the suspension, Williams met with Sky owner Michael Alter in person. According to Williams, Alter couldn’t fathom why she would want to play in the Olympics and “not be in America.”
Not only did they treat her like crap, figured they could just steamroll her, but they dismissed her desires and basically lied and went behind her back and screwed her over.
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I told him, ‘You have to understand, I don’t make money here,’ ” said Williams, who was traded to the Los Angeles Sparks shortly after the suspension. “Not even about money – I wasn’t getting a lot of minutes. I didn’t feel very important to the team – they didn’t make me feel important – and I was like, ‘You’re asking me to sacrifice this for that.’”
The cascade of events was difficult for Williams but ultimately served as a wake-up call for her to take control of her career.
“At that point, I was still very young and was still seeing it as like … I do everything for my team, my franchise. I’m just that kind of person,” Williams said. “Then just realizing that, oh, maybe I should be careful with that because maybe people aren’t investing in me the way I’m investing in them. So let me start investing in myself more.”
It's hard to express how disgusted I am with the management of the Sky, that the league allowed this to happen, and that the "players union" didn't stand up for her. Perhaps they felt they had no power and no way to defend or protect Gabby.
I'm sad that Gabby had to go thru that to "grow up" and take control of her life and career, but thrilled that it has turned out to where she is now. I'm not a huge fan of Quinn as a coach, but Gabby is flourishing, and people are starting to see what we UConn fans knew about her all along - she's a GREAT person, and one of the most exciting players in the world.
andscape.com
