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San Francisco Chronicle
9 hours ago
- Sport
- San Francisco Chronicle
Valkyries see how Kate ‘Money' Martin can impact a game as a shotmaker
Kate Martin earned the nickname 'Money' last season for her timely shots in limited minutes as a rookie with the Las Vegas Aces. But Wednesday night in San Francisco, she cashed in as a Golden State Valkyrie: a career-best 21-point performance that included a 14-point fourth-quarter explosion that nearly stole the game from the New York Liberty. New York won 81-78. In her first season with the Valkyries (7-7) under head coach Natalie Nakase, a former Aces assistant, Martin has had a few 'money' moments, including hitting a halftime buzzer-beater against Las Vegas and tallying 14 points against the Minnesota Lynx. 'I was ice cold in the first half, so shout out to (my teammates) for continuing to pass me the ball,' Martin said of her fourth-quarter flurry. 'It just feels good to knock down shots.' Martin shot just 26.3% with 4.5 points per game in the Valkyries' first five games, serving as a healthy scratch in Game 5 — Golden State's loss in New York on May 29. And while Nakase has alternated her lineups often, it appeared Martin wasn't in the regular rotation. Then Martin performed well against the Lynx on June 1 and played significant bench minutes in wins over Las Vegas, the Los Angeles Sparks and Seattle Storm. Against Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever on June 19, Martin played the role of a shutdown guard. After she went 0-for-8 from the field in Sunday's win over the Sun, Martin responded on Wednesday by showing the impact she can have off the bench as a scorer — potential that will force defenses to think twice. 'She's a great shooter, and she's got a lot of confidence when the ball comes to her, and she's going to make tough plays, and you saw that tonight,' Liberty head coach Sandy Brondello said of Martin. 'She made some shots where we over-helped and just left her open, and that wasn't the plan. But sometimes in the heat of the battle, we lose our focus on how we want to execute. But Kate made those shots, and she's always stayed ready. I really like her mentality. She really was a thorn in our side, and at the end, obviously, they went to her and got a shot off and didn't make it. … Finally.' Martin hit four 3-pointers in the fourth quarter, scoring the final 12 Valkyries points. She cut the deficit to three with a 3-pointer at the 4:35 mark. The next possession, she netted another trey from the left wing to tie the score. With 1:59 left, Martin gave the Valkyries a 75-74 lead with another left-corner 3. Then she hit an impossible-angle shot — from the left again — to cut the Liberty lead to 79-78 with 12.2 seconds on the clock. Golden State got no closer as Liberty guard Sabrina Ionescu made two free throws to extend New York's lead. But Martin's breakout came at a time when the Valkyries needed to see it. Golden State was without five players on Wednesday: Carla Leite (back) and Temi Fagbenle (rest), plus EuroBasket participants Julie Vanloo (Belgium), Janelle Salaün (France) and Cecilia Zandalasini (Italy). Golden State's offense once again went stagnant late in the fourth quarter. In the loss to New York on May 29, the Valkyries scored five points in the last 3:11. In the loss to Phoenix on June 5, a late 18-1 run by the Mercury stole victory away. The Valkyries need more than one hot shooter to deliver in late-game scenarios, so Martin emerging as a reliable option is significant. Martin is shooting 31.9% from 3, ranking behind Zandalasini (47.1%), Salaün (40%), Tiffany Hayes (34.6%) and Chloe Bibby (42.9%), who has played in just three games. Martin has played 16.7 minutes per game off the bench, just ahead of the 16.6 from Leite among regular rotation players. Martin is still primarily a 3-and-D player, but she's venturing inside more often; she takes 60.3% of her shots from 3-point range compared to 70.5% last season, and 28.2% of her shots come from within 3 to 10 feet of the rim. 'All of her hard work in the offseason coming into this season is now coming to life,' Nakase said of Martin. 'She had a trainer who not only improved her basketball skills, but also her physical skills. So she was in the weight room. She was doing agility. She was always asking, 'What should I work on? ' And so, again, just credit to her for sacrificing her whole offseason. And now you guys are seeing the results of everything.' Chicago head coach Tyler Marsh, an assistant in Las Vegas last season, cited Martin's experience with the Aces and the Unrivaled 3-on-3 league this offseason as helping prepare her for her new role at Golden State. 'We can just see she's getting more and more comfortable and playing against elite competition, and not being afraid of the moment,' Marsh said Thursday, a day before the Valkyries' matchup against his Sky. Martin isn't about to become Golden State's top scoring option. Still, with her 3-point ability and improving ability to get to the rim, she might be one of the Valkyries' most important pieces during their improbable playoff contention. 'We want her to stay aggressive,' Nakase said. 'It's a credit to Kate believing in herself and her teammates believing in her.'
Yahoo
9 hours ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
International WNBA players often leave their teams during the regular season; why that's changing
The Seattle Storm's Gabby Williams is enjoying a career season in 2025. She's averaging the most points (14), assists (4.7) and rebounds (4.5) she ever has in seven WNBA seasons. Her three-point percentage has increased by over 20 percent year-over-year even as her attempts from deep have increased from 2.6 to 4.8 in 2025. Satou Sabally too has had a career year in scoring, leading the Phoenix Mercury so far with 19.3 points per game. Imagine if both Sabally and Williams had to just pause their WNBA seasons and potential WNBA All-Star campaigns to jet off to Europe to play in EuroBasket from June 18 through June 29. EuroBasket is a biennial continental championship tournament sponsored by the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) that can qualify a national team's entry into the next Olympics. Advertisement For a long time, that was often the case for WNBA players with ties to countries like France, Germany, Belgium, and Italy, who would — and still do — leave their WNBA teams midseason to compete in a week-and-a-half-long tournament. The event can feature up to six games in just 12 days, with only one day of rest between the first three games. It isn't only national teams from Europe, however, that often feature WNBA players in these continental tournaments. FIBA also sponsors other continental tournaments such as the Asia Cup and the AmeriCup that serve a similar purpose. The AmeriCup runs from late June into early July and then the Asia Cup begins in the middle of July and runs for a week. The Sky's Kamilla Cardoso and the Fever's Damiris Dantas left just this week to compete in the AmeriCup for the Brazilian National team. As of right now the WNBA has 162 rostered players, which includes players on hardship contracts and 22 of them (13.5 percent) faced a choice to leave in the middle of the season or will be late for the WNBA season because of these continental tournaments. While 13 players have made commitments to play in these tournaments during the first half of the WNBA season, eight players have firmly decided not to including German national team star Sabally, French two-way wing Williams, New York Liberty French guard Marine Johannès and Sabally's sister Nyara who also plays for New York in the W. Advertisement 'It gives the autonomy back to the players,' Satou told reporters about what to glean from this new trend amongst international WNBA players in 2025. All but three teams in the WNBA including the Mystics, Aces and Dream—teams that don't roster international players— have been impacted by the decisions that international players have made or will continue to make. Teams like the new expansion franchise, the Golden State Valkyries, have had to adjust the most as the franchise has dealt with one-third of their team leaving for EuroBasket in the month of June. But some teams also have players making different types of decisions that aren't in line with the desires of international federations. French Rookie Carla Leite decided to stay in San Francisco with the Valkyries rather than return to France to train with her national team prior to EuroBasket and as did No. 2 overall pick Dominique Malonga, who made a commitment to the Seattle Storm. Explaining the status quo Until 2023, the expectation for players within the French Federation's women's basketball team was that prior to competitions like EuroBasket and the Olympics players would report to the national team's training camp after their club seasons in either the French league or some other international league concluded. Advertisement To be clear, this is what one player on the Connecticut Sun, 2024 No. 10 overall draft pick Leïla Lacan, has had to do this season. She is expected to join the Sun after the French national team completes their stint in EuroBasket which could be as soon as on June 30, a day after the Sun play the Lynx in Minneapolis. But prior to 2023, French players didn't really challenge the wishes of the Federation. This wasn't until Johannès had a desire to fly to New York to get settled with the Liberty and then meet the national team at EuroBasket instead of staying in France for weeks-long training sessions. She and her agent negotiated for months with the Federation but the French body didn't oblige and instead punished Johannès by not allowing her to compete in EuroBasket in addition to settling in with the Liberty first. The federation even threatened to ban Johannès from competing in the 2024 Paris Olympics, but they quickly changed course after realizing how this looked optically, banning one of their best players and how they were limiting player autonomy. To be clear, Johannès had come late every other WNBA season she's played because of her French domestic league and national team commitments. While not all federations are as strict as the French, it remains notable that both Belgian players in Julie Vanloo and Julie Allemand decided to leave their respective WNBA teams in the Valkyries and the Sparks in favor of competing in EuroBasket. They could begin their seasons in the United States, but both made different decisions compared to Johannès, Williams, and the Sabally sisters. Advertisement There is also personal pressure on players to leave their WNBA teams in order to strengthen their national teams and help grow the sport in their home countries. Mercury head coach Nate Tibbets had breakfast with Satou one morning and the two were discussing her decision to stay with the Mercury amid some doubt she had about letting her country down. 'I'm sure both [Satou and Nyara] are feeling like they're leaving their country down, not being there, and because I know they've got such a pride for playing for their team,' he said. Tibbets, who came to the WNBA after 20 years of experience in the G league and NBA, isn't used to this constant struggle that many WNBA players endure season to season. 'Players would never probably leave, or that league wouldn't allow players to leave to go and play for their national team in these tournaments,' he said about the NBA. Why is that? Typically G league players or college aged players represent international federations and even Team USA. For the FIBA AmeriCup taking place this year, USA Basketball sent some of the United States' best college players rather than pulling from the WNBA. That's not always the case for Federations that don't have the depth of talent available in the United States. But also with EuroBasket in particular, the next men's tournament will happen during the NBA offseason later this summer in August. No conflict there. What sparked a change Prior to the Tokyo Olympics, Williams had a falling out with her former WNBA team the Chicago Sky. Her plan was to begin the 2021 season in France to prepare for the Olympics after her French league team ASVEL completed its domestic season. Initially the agreement between the Sky and Williams was that they would trade her contract, but then the franchise defected and suspended her contract instead, preventing her from playing at all in the WNBA in 2021. Advertisement Williams explained to Andscape's Sean Heard her frustration with this situation and what she said to Sky owner Michael Alter. 'I told him, 'You have to understand, I don't make money here,' ' she said . '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.'' Williams' dissatisfaction with Sky ownership came down to an endemic WNBA issue. Over the years, the Sky were notorious for being a franchise that didn't treat its players on the level of professional athletes. Back in 2021, teams weren't in the arms race they are now to provide players with the best experience and player amenities. The WNBA was also a year into a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA) that had a provision that limited international players or players who chose to play overseas. The owners argued in the 2020 CBA that the quality of the product was suffering because so many of the best players were supplementing their incomes abroad and arriving late to training camp and the regular season. After Brittney Griner's ordeal in Russia, more opportunities have opened up for the top players to stay in the United States during the WNBA offseason. But players have their eyes on the next CBA which is being negotiated as we speak and set to go into action next season. Salaries are expected to go up pretty dramatically in addition to requirements for franchises when it comes to the player experience. This is the reason why players like Williams, Satou and Johannès are committing to the WNBA this year. Advertisement For Satou her reason to skip EuroBasket was because of her desire to prove to the Mercury how committed she is to them. She, like most of the league, is on a one-year contract that will expire once the current CBA does. She missed more than half of the 2024 WNBA season recovering from injury and preparing for the Paris Olympics. She knew that in 2025 she would need to prove to her WNBA team that she's committed and deserving of the increase in pay that's going to come to most players. 'So sometimes you just have to give and take a little bit in your professional career,' Satou said about her decision. 'There's so many people that will pull from all sides. So just knowing what you can and can't do is also something that I've learned throughout my time.' Johannès' reasoning is similar to Satou's. She wants to prove to the Liberty and the entire league that she can play an entire season in the WNBA. But she also made a decision for her own physical and mental health. 'I'm 30 right now, and like, I can't be everywhere and nowhere, you know? I know some people were mad about my decision, but they have to understand that I'm not 23 anymore. Like, I need stabilization too.' Advertisement Liberty and Australian national team coach Sandy Brondello, who once was a WNBA player who did not grow up in the United States, understands these issues from all sides. She knows how much of a bind international federations put on players, and she knows how much WNBA teams are impacted when star players leave in the beginning of the season. Leonie Fiebich, another German national team mainstay, hasn't played for the Liberty since June 14, and New York has gone 2-3 since. Brondello respects all the choices of her players, but sees a deterioration of the status quo that was prevalent in so many international federations. 'I think all the Federations understand that this is their jobs, and this is how they make money,' Brondello said about the WNBA. 'And there's a new CBA coming out next year, opportunities to be financially secure. So I just think it's just a different time where there's a little bit more appreciation, and players have more of a voice in what they should be doing for their careers and not being told what they should be doing.' Li Yueru of the Dallas Wings is a mainstay on the Chinese national team and she forced a trade this year for that same reason. Li knew that if she stayed on the Seattle Storm and continued to get small amounts of playing time, the Chinese Federation would have demanded that she return to China to compete in the Asia Cup. Li wanted to prioritize the WNBA and forced her way to Dallas to prevent conflict between her and her home federation. Advertisement While Satou's sister Nyara's reasons are different from her sister's reasons for sitting EuroBasket out, especially since she's still on her rookie scale contract in 2026, hers are more about her own physical health and overall convenience. She has had a history of issues with her right knee and it flared up again earlier this WNBA season. If she would have participated in EuroBasket, she would have put her health at risk. Another flight would lead to more knee swelling, and then back-to-back games wouldn't have helped with her load management and injury prevention either. But it isn't just physical for players. It's about how difficult it is mentally to move from place to place so quickly. 'I'm always talking about coming late during the season is not easy,' Johannès told reporters reflecting on her decision. 'So I guess I think that coming here first, like going to the national team, it's completely in a different organization, like we don't play the same. So coming back again here, like, it's going to be a lot.' Challenges will persist moving forward Because of a new CBA on the way and because WNBA franchises have upped their player experience and amenities, players are more inclined to stay in the United States now during these more minor tournaments. Advertisement But what is going to happen when the WNBA season has to once again contend with the 2026 FIBA World Cup which is set to take place in Germany from September 4 through September 13? The WNBA's 2025 schedule has 44 games, and it would be foolish to believe that the league would want to decrease the number of games in its season in the year after under the new CBA. Traditionally the WNBA season would end before the World Cup and the Finals would end as the World Cup begins. That might not be possible in 2026. Could the WNBA take a World Cup break in September and then resume later in the fall? That's a similar approach that the league takes with the Olympics? The possibility is one that still remains to be seen. Emma Meeseman, a former WNBA Finals MVP who hasn't played in the league for years because of limits on international players, namely prioritization under the current CBA, has expressed frustration about how often EuroBasket and other FIBA continental tournaments have to happen. But a source familiar with how FIBA operates explained to NBC Sports why FIBA probably won't be open to having less EuroBaskets, Asia Cups and AmeriCup tournaments. The tournaments are how the governing body makes money, and so the only compromise would be moving the tournaments rather than eliminating them. Advertisement 'It's just a really hard scheduling problem,' Nyara said in response to Meeseman's frustrations. 'I'm pretty sure people are also working on it. I think they're probably aware of the issue that's going on and the trend that more and more players ought to stay in the States…so maybe moving it to one of the national team windows would be a possibility but that's wishful thinking.' But then Nyara noted that if EuroBasket moves to during the winter time, then players who are playing in Europe during the winter will have to miss parts of EuroLeague or their domestic league's season. The solution, which is one that's quite common in the NBA, is that with higher pay more international and domestic WNBA players won't even have to supplement their incomes overseas. With a new CBA in 2026, the WNBA could become not only the most talented league in the world, but finally a professional women's league where its players are treated like the money-making superstars they are.
NBC Sports
9 hours ago
- Sport
- NBC Sports
International WNBA players often leave their teams during the regular season; why that's changing
The Seattle Storm's Gabby Williams is enjoying a career season in 2025. She's averaging the most points (14), assists (4.7) and rebounds (4.5) she ever has in seven WNBA seasons. Her three-point percentage has increased by over 20 percent year-over-year even as her attempts from deep have increased from 2.6 to 4.8 in 2025. Satou Sabally too has had a career year in scoring, leading the Phoenix Mercury so far with 19.3 points per game. Imagine if both Sabally and Williams had to just pause their WNBA seasons and potential WNBA All-Star campaigns to jet off to Europe to play in EuroBasket from June 18 through June 29. EuroBasket is a biennial continental championship tournament sponsored by the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) that can qualify a national team's entry into the next Olympics. For a long time, that was often the case for WNBA players with ties to countries like France, Germany, Belgium, and Italy, who would — and still do — leave their WNBA teams midseason to compete in a week-and-a-half-long tournament. The event can feature up to six games in just 12 days, with only one day of rest between the first three games. It isn't only national teams from Europe, however, that often feature WNBA players in these continental tournaments. FIBA also sponsors other continental tournaments such as the Asia Cup and the AmeriCup that serve a similar purpose. The AmeriCup runs from late June into early July and then the Asia Cup begins in the middle of July and runs for a week. The Sky's Kamilla Cardoso and the Fever's Damiris Dantas left just this week to compete in the AmeriCup for the Brazilian National team. As of right now the WNBA has 162 rostered players, which includes players on hardship contracts and 22 of them (13.5 percent) faced a choice to leave in the middle of the season or will be late for the WNBA season because of these continental tournaments. While 13 players have made commitments to play in these tournaments during the first half of the WNBA season, eight players have firmly decided not to including German national team star Sabally, French two-way wing Williams, New York Liberty French guard Marine Johannès and Sabally's sister Nyara who also plays for New York in the W. 'It gives the autonomy back to the players,' Satou told reporters about what to glean from this new trend amongst international WNBA players in 2025. All but three teams in the WNBA including the Mystics, Aces and Dream—teams that don't roster international players— have been impacted by the decisions that international players have made or will continue to make. Teams like the new expansion franchise, the Golden State Valkyries, have had to adjust the most as the franchise has dealt with one-third of their team leaving for EuroBasket in the month of June. But some teams also have players making different types of decisions that aren't in line with the desires of international federations. French Rookie Carla Leite decided to stay in San Francisco with the Valkyries rather than return to France to train with her national team prior to EuroBasket and as did No. 2 overall pick Dominique Malonga, who made a commitment to the Seattle Storm. Explaining the status quo Until 2023, the expectation for players within the French Federation's women's basketball team was that prior to competitions like EuroBasket and the Olympics players would report to the national team's training camp after their club seasons in either the French league or some other international league concluded. To be clear, this is what one player on the Connecticut Sun, 2024 No. 10 overall draft pick Leïla Lacan, has had to do this season. She is expected to join the Sun after the French national team completes their stint in EuroBasket which could be as soon as on June 30, a day after the Sun play the Lynx in Minneapolis. But prior to 2023, French players didn't really challenge the wishes of the Federation. This wasn't until Johannès had a desire to fly to New York to get settled with the Liberty and then meet the national team at EuroBasket instead of staying in France for weeks-long training sessions. She and her agent negotiated for months with the Federation but the French body didn't oblige and instead punished Johannès by not allowing her to compete in EuroBasket in addition to settling in with the Liberty first. The federation even threatened to ban Johannès from competing in the 2024 Paris Olympics, but they quickly changed course after realizing how this looked optically, banning one of their best players and how they were limiting player autonomy. To be clear, Johannès had come late every other WNBA season she's played because of her French domestic league and national team commitments. While not all federations are as strict as the French, it remains notable that both Belgian players in Julie Vanloo and Julie Allemand decided to leave their respective WNBA teams in the Valkyries and the Sparks in favor of competing in EuroBasket. They could begin their seasons in the United States, but both made different decisions compared to Johannès, Williams, and the Sabally sisters. There is also personal pressure on players to leave their WNBA teams in order to strengthen their national teams and help grow the sport in their home countries. Mercury head coach Nate Tibbets had breakfast with Satou one morning and the two were discussing her decision to stay with the Mercury amid some doubt she had about letting her country down. 'I'm sure both [Satou and Nyara] are feeling like they're leaving their country down, not being there, and because I know they've got such a pride for playing for their team,' he said. Tibbets, who came to the WNBA after 20 years of experience in the G league and NBA, isn't used to this constant struggle that many WNBA players endure season to season. 'Players would never probably leave, or that league wouldn't allow players to leave to go and play for their national team in these tournaments,' he said about the NBA. Why is that? Typically G league players or college aged players represent international federations and even Team USA. For the FIBA AmeriCup taking place this year, USA Basketball sent some of the United States' best college players rather than pulling from the WNBA. That's not always the case for Federations that don't have the depth of talent available in the United States. But also with EuroBasket in particular, the next men's tournament will happen during the NBA offseason later this summer in August. No conflict there. What sparked a change Prior to the Tokyo Olympics, Williams had a falling out with her former WNBA team the Chicago Sky. Her plan was to begin the 2021 season in France to prepare for the Olympics after her French league team ASVEL completed its domestic season. Initially the agreement between the Sky and Williams was that they would trade her contract, but then the franchise defected and suspended her contract instead, preventing her from playing at all in the WNBA in 2021. Williams explained to Andscape's Sean Heard her frustration with this situation and what she said to Sky owner Michael Alter. 'I told him, 'You have to understand, I don't make money here,' ' she said. '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.'' Williams' dissatisfaction with Sky ownership came down to an endemic WNBA issue. Over the years, the Sky were notorious for being a franchise that didn't treat its players on the level of professional athletes. Back in 2021, teams weren't in the arms race they are now to provide players with the best experience and player amenities. The WNBA was also a year into a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA) that had a provision that limited international players or players who chose to play overseas. The owners argued in the 2020 CBA that the quality of the product was suffering because so many of the best players were supplementing their incomes abroad and arriving late to training camp and the regular season. After Brittney Griner's ordeal in Russia, more opportunities have opened up for the top players to stay in the United States during the WNBA offseason. But players have their eyes on the next CBA which is being negotiated as we speak and set to go into action next season. Salaries are expected to go up pretty dramatically in addition to requirements for franchises when it comes to the player experience. This is the reason why players like Williams, Satou and Johannès are committing to the WNBA this year. For Satou her reason to skip EuroBasket was because of her desire to prove to the Mercury how committed she is to them. She, like most of the league, is on a one-year contract that will expire once the current CBA does. She missed more than half of the 2024 WNBA season recovering from injury and preparing for the Paris Olympics. She knew that in 2025 she would need to prove to her WNBA team that she's committed and deserving of the increase in pay that's going to come to most players. 'So sometimes you just have to give and take a little bit in your professional career,' Satou said about her decision. 'There's so many people that will pull from all sides. So just knowing what you can and can't do is also something that I've learned throughout my time.' Johannès' reasoning is similar to Satou's. She wants to prove to the Liberty and the entire league that she can play an entire season in the WNBA. But she also made a decision for her own physical and mental health. 'I'm 30 right now, and like, I can't be everywhere and nowhere, you know? I know some people were mad about my decision, but they have to understand that I'm not 23 anymore. Like, I need stabilization too.' Liberty and Australian national team coach Sandy Brondello, who once was a WNBA player who did not grow up in the United States, understands these issues from all sides. She knows how much of a bind international federations put on players, and she knows how much WNBA teams are impacted when star players leave in the beginning of the season. Leonie Fiebich, another German national team mainstay, hasn't played for the Liberty since June 14, and New York has gone 2-3 since. Brondello respects all the choices of her players, but sees a deterioration of the status quo that was prevalent in so many international federations. 'I think all the Federations understand that this is their jobs, and this is how they make money,' Brondello said about the WNBA. 'And there's a new CBA coming out next year, opportunities to be financially secure. So I just think it's just a different time where there's a little bit more appreciation, and players have more of a voice in what they should be doing for their careers and not being told what they should be doing.' Li Yueru of the Dallas Wings is a mainstay on the Chinese national team and she forced a trade this year for that same reason. Li knew that if she stayed on the Seattle Storm and continued to get small amounts of playing time, the Chinese Federation would have demanded that she return to China to compete in the Asia Cup. Li wanted to prioritize the WNBA and forced her way to Dallas to prevent conflict between her and her home federation. While Satou's sister Nyara's reasons are different from her sister's reasons for sitting EuroBasket out, especially since she's still on her rookie scale contract in 2026, hers are more about her own physical health and overall convenience. She has had a history of issues with her right knee and it flared up again earlier this WNBA season. If she would have participated in EuroBasket, she would have put her health at risk. Another flight would lead to more knee swelling, and then back-to-back games wouldn't have helped with her load management and injury prevention either. But it isn't just physical for players. It's about how difficult it is mentally to move from place to place so quickly. 'I'm always talking about coming late during the season is not easy,' Johannès told reporters reflecting on her decision. 'So I guess I think that coming here first, like going to the national team, it's completely in a different organization, like we don't play the same. So coming back again here, like, it's going to be a lot.' Challenges will persist moving forward Because of a new CBA on the way and because WNBA franchises have upped their player experience and amenities, players are more inclined to stay in the United States now during these more minor tournaments. But what is going to happen when the WNBA season has to once again contend with the 2026 FIBA World Cup which is set to take place in Germany from September 4 through September 13? The WNBA's 2025 schedule has 44 games, and it would be foolish to believe that the league would want to decrease the number of games in its season in the year after under the new CBA. Traditionally the WNBA season would end before the World Cup and the Finals would end as the World Cup begins. That might not be possible in 2026. Could the WNBA take a World Cup break in September and then resume later in the fall? That's a similar approach that the league takes with the Olympics? The possibility is one that still remains to be seen. Emma Meeseman, a former WNBA Finals MVP who hasn't played in the league for years because of limits on international players, namely prioritization under the current CBA, has expressed frustration about how often EuroBasket and other FIBA continental tournaments have to happen. But a source familiar with how FIBA operates explained to NBC Sports why FIBA probably won't be open to having less EuroBaskets, Asia Cups and AmeriCup tournaments. The tournaments are how the governing body makes money, and so the only compromise would be moving the tournaments rather than eliminating them. 'It's just a really hard scheduling problem,' Nyara said in response to Meeseman's frustrations. 'I'm pretty sure people are also working on it. I think they're probably aware of the issue that's going on and the trend that more and more players ought to stay in the States…so maybe moving it to one of the national team windows would be a possibility but that's wishful thinking.' But then Nyara noted that if EuroBasket moves to during the winter time, then players who are playing in Europe during the winter will have to miss parts of EuroLeague or their domestic league's season. The solution, which is one that's quite common in the NBA, is that with higher pay more international and domestic WNBA players won't even have to supplement their incomes overseas. With a new CBA in 2026, the WNBA could become not only the most talented league in the world, but finally a professional women's league where its players are treated like the money-making superstars they are.
Time of India
12 hours ago
- Sport
- Time of India
Who is Noa Essengue? Exploring background, parents, and his unusual journey to NBA after trying judo and tennis
Image credit: Noa Essengue/Instagram There's a young NBA star in town, and there's a buzz. The Chicago Bulls picked French teenager Noa Essengue in the NBA Draft. Until recently, Essengue was just a regular teenager playing basketball — and that too without any college experience — but he quickly became a trending topic and the talk of the town after being selected in the top 15. Who is Noa Eseengue? Born in 2006 in Orleans, Loiret, France, Essengue began his basketball journey through the French youth development system with Orleans Loiret Basket. In 2021, the then 18-year-old signed his first professional contract with Centre Fédéral de Basket-ball. After spending two years with Centre Fédéral, Essengue moved to the German league and joined Ratiopharm Ulm. He spent one season with Ulm before making a significant leap in his career. In the 2024–25 season, he joined the top professional tier and never looked back. Essengue averaged 10.7 points and five rebounds for Ulm. He also represented France at the 2024 FIBA U-18 EuroBasket tournament and later joined the senior team for the EuroBasket qualifiers in 2025. Who are Noa Essengue's parents? After being picked by the Chicago Bulls in the NBA Draft, curiosity about Essengue's background — including details about his parents' names, professions, and education — flooded the internet. Social media was abuzz with searches and speculation. So, who are Noa Essengue's parents? Essengue is the son of former Cameroonian basketball player Gaston Essengue. Gaston played college basketball for the UNLV Rebels from 2005 to 2007. He averaged 5.7 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 1.1 blocks per game in 65 appearances. Though Gaston's name gained attention during the 2007 season, he went undrafted in the 2007 NBA Draft. He went on to play professionally in countries like France and Turkey for over a decade. Essengue's mother was a math teacher at a school. But it was his older brother Mathis who was for reason behind him opting for basketball. 'I don't really have a sporty family,' Essengue told 'But I think I have the advantage of having a very close-knit family. When I was little, I didn't live with my dad, but mostly with my older brother Mathis and my mom. I followed my older brother a lot; as soon as he changed sports, I followed him everywhere. He started doing judo, I followed him and did it for five years. After that, he went to tennis, and I went to tennis too. One day he decided to play basketball, and I signed up too. I started to enjoy it and thought, 'Why not make it my career?' he revealed.' Also Read: Noa Essengue eyes 2025 NBA draft in Brooklyn after taking sudden exit from German League Standing at 6'10', Noa Essengue is a talent to watch out for in the upcoming season. Game On Season 1 continues with Mirabai Chanu's inspiring story. Watch Episode 2 here.
Chicago Tribune
2 days ago
- Sport
- Chicago Tribune
Who is Noa Essengue? 6 things to know about the Chicago Bulls' No. 12 pick in the 2025 NBA draft.
The Chicago Bulls added another lengthy wing to their arsenal by selecting French teenager Noa Essengue with the No. 12 pick in the first round of Wednesday's NBA draft. Without any NCAA playing experience, Essengue is one of the lesser-known names to be selected with a top 15 pick. So why did the Bulls take a swing on him? And what does his future look like in Chicago? Here's what to know about the newest Bull. A native of Orléans, France, Essengue came up through the French youth development system with Orléans Loiret Basket before signing his first professional contract in 2021 with Centre Fédéral de Basket-ball. Essengue left for the German league to join Ratiopharm Ulm in 2023, where he played one season in the youth development league before moving up to the top professional tier for the 2024-25 season. He averaged 10.7 points and 5 rebounds per game for Ulm this season. Essengue is also a future prospect for the French national team. He competed for the U-18 team at the 2024 FIBA U-18 EuroBasket tournament, then moved up to the senior team for EuroBasket qualifiers in 2025. Essengue caused a bit of a stir leading up to the NBA draft when he chose to leave Germany while his team, Ulm, was still competing in the finals of the Basketball Bundesliga championship. Ulm faced Bayern Munich in the fourth game of a five-game series Tuesday, only hours before the draft took place in New York City. Although Essengue missed a must-win game — a 67-53 home loss which pushed the series to a final game Thursday — the rookie said this was always the agreed-upon plan with the coaching staff. (The 18-year-old was averaging only 3.7 points in fewer than 14 minutes per game in the finals series before he left.) 'We talked a lot with my coaching staff, all the staff from Ulm,' Essengue said. 'It was like, 'If I get in the green room, I'm leaving.' And the coach said yes. So on the day I learned I'm in the green room, the coach said, 'Just go there, live your dream and we'll finish the job.'' Essengue's teammate Ben Saraf also left after he was invited for draft night festivities. Saraf was selected No. 26 by the Brooklyn Nets. General manager Marc Eversley said the front office first watched Essengue last September when Ulm played a preseason friendly against the Portland Trail Blazers. At the time, Essengue was a raw 17-year-old still finding his footing at the top level of German professional basketball. He hit a trio of 3-pointers while logging 20 points and eight rebounds, making a strong impression on Eversley and other NBA executives. Although Essengue is versatile enough to play anywhere between the three and the five, Eversley said the Bulls ideally see him as a wing who can match up against a wide range of frontcourt and backcourt opponents. Eversley drew his own comparisons between Essengue and 2024 draft pick Matas Buzelis, who excelled in his rookie season as an oversized wing who could pick up a wide variety of assignments on defense. It might seem counterproductive to draft two players with similar skillsets in back-to-back drafts, but Eversley cited this as a strength — rather than a weakness — in the team's draft strategy. 'I like the length, the versatility, the ability to be switchable on defense,' Eversley said. 'Those are all intriguing qualities.' Eversley said the Bulls kept in touch with three or four other teams to negotiate the potential of trading up for a higher pick. Such a trade could have allowed the Bulls to take a swing on a true center like Khaman Maluach (No. 10, Phoenix Suns) or a more developed forward like Collin Murray-Boyles (No. 9, Toronto Raptors). Ultimately, the Bulls front office didn't feel it was worthwhile to move up in the draft order. 'We felt comfortable that the player we wanted was going to be there for us,' Eversley said. 4 players with Illinois ties were picked in 1st round of NBA draft. Here's what to know about should come as no surprise, but an untested rookie who won't turn 19 until late December is going to have more weaknesses than strengths in his debut season. So yes, Essengue will come to the Bulls with a long to-do list to build out his game to an NBA level. Although he's lengthy with large hands and a sprawling reach, the forward needs to get stronger to begin finishing through contact and providing a physical challenge to opposing bigs. Essengue is excellent at getting to the free-throw line in Germany, but it's unclear if that talent will translate to the NBA. The rookie's shooting will be a major focus. And both his ball-handling and playmaking will need extensive development — not just this year, but in the long term — to give Essengue the independence to actually create proactively. It's too early to say. Essengue will be in Chicago this weekend to begin his onboarding process. He is also expected to participate in the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas, where he will get his first minutes playing alongside Buzelis. But beyond this summer, the Bulls are still determining the appropriate timeline for the teenager. Eversley made it clear that the front office understands the patience necessary to establish a strong foundation with a selection this young. And that means the Bulls still haven't ruled out stashing Essengue for a year as they wait to clear out contracts for the 2026-27 season. Ultimately, the rookie's debut could be contingent on the front office's ability to execute a collection of crucial transactions to move players like Nikola Vučević.
