Four-time WNBA All-Star Liz Cambage is parting ways with the Los Angeles Sparks. It was just three months ago when the 6’8” center signed with the team and said it was “where I want to be.” Cambage’s departure marks her third split with a WNBA team in five years.
On Tuesday, the Sparks announced that they and Cambage had agreed to a “contract divorce” only five months after she was added to the roster. She averaged 13 points, 6.4 rebounds and 1.6 blocks in 25 games this season and still holds the WNBA single-game scoring record with 53 points.
“It was a surprise, I didn’t know what really escalated it,” Fred Williams, the team’s coach, said at a media conference on Tuesday. “A lot of it could have been things off the court, off floor, who knows. Having conversations with her afterward, it just felt it was good for her personally to make that move. All we can do as an organization is support that and her decisions and just move on.”
“We want what’s best for Liz and have agreed to part ways amicably,” Eric Holoman, a managing partner for the Sparks, said in a statement announcing the move.
Cambage grew up outside Melbourne, Australia, and was drafted second overall by the Tulsa Shock in 2011. She took a four-season hiatus from the league before rejoining the team, which had relocated to Dallas and became known as the Wings. Cambage then joined the Las Vegas Aces in 2019.
Cambage had always hoped to play for the Sparks, telling The New York Times in May, “I had been living someone else’s dream, chasing that for a minute. But now I’ve realized that this has always been my dream, being here in L.A. and playing here.”
“I have to respect what she wants,” Williams said. “You have to listen because it could be something else, could be something that’s not related to basketball,” adding, “I think she has room right now to check the temperature of herself.”
Link to article: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/27/sports/basketball/liz-cambage-los-angeles-sparks.html
On Tuesday, the Sparks announced that they and Cambage had agreed to a “contract divorce” only five months after she was added to the roster. She averaged 13 points, 6.4 rebounds and 1.6 blocks in 25 games this season and still holds the WNBA single-game scoring record with 53 points.
“It was a surprise, I didn’t know what really escalated it,” Fred Williams, the team’s coach, said at a media conference on Tuesday. “A lot of it could have been things off the court, off floor, who knows. Having conversations with her afterward, it just felt it was good for her personally to make that move. All we can do as an organization is support that and her decisions and just move on.”
“We want what’s best for Liz and have agreed to part ways amicably,” Eric Holoman, a managing partner for the Sparks, said in a statement announcing the move.
Cambage grew up outside Melbourne, Australia, and was drafted second overall by the Tulsa Shock in 2011. She took a four-season hiatus from the league before rejoining the team, which had relocated to Dallas and became known as the Wings. Cambage then joined the Las Vegas Aces in 2019.
Cambage had always hoped to play for the Sparks, telling The New York Times in May, “I had been living someone else’s dream, chasing that for a minute. But now I’ve realized that this has always been my dream, being here in L.A. and playing here.”
“I have to respect what she wants,” Williams said. “You have to listen because it could be something else, could be something that’s not related to basketball,” adding, “I think she has room right now to check the temperature of herself.”
Link to article: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/27/sports/basketball/liz-cambage-los-angeles-sparks.html
