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Julie Vanloo would rather risk her career in the WNBA and play internationally for Belgium in the middle of the regular season than stay with the Golden State Valkyries and leave her country to fend for itself. She either came to an understanding with her professional organization or bailed on them anyway.
Either way, they will be without their primary ball-handler for at least three weeks.
Vanloo was a rookie in the WNBA last season with the Washington Mystics. However, the 32-year-old has played professional basketball in countries like Turkey, New Zealand and France since 2003. This is the first time she has encountered this kind of predicament in terms of crossover scheduling.
The WNBA plays from May to October. International tournaments typically take place in the summer. That leaves international players with a decision where they must choose between club and country.
It was not an issue last season because the WNBA took a lengthy break for the Olympics. All 12 athletes on all 12 teams could play for their country if they wanted to do so. They were home in time to pick up the regular season where it left off. No problem.
The league does not take that same break for continental tournaments like EuroBasket 2025 and therein lies the issue. Julie Vanloo played for Team Belgium in Paris. She is going to play for Team Belgium this summer as the defending champs. However, she will have to leave the Golden State Valkyries to do so.
Vanloo made this decision despite the threat of a trade (which doesn’t seem to be an issue based on Golden State’s social post above). WNBA teams, legally speaking, cannot cut a player if she chooses to leave the team to play for her country. They can trade the aforementioned player without warning.
Julie Vanloo said at the end of May that the Valkyries were “not very keen” on letting the international players go back overseas in the middle of the season. She, like other internationals in the league, was worried about a potential trade. A number of athletes opted out of EuroBasket because they felt too much pressure from their clubs. They didn’t want to be traded or benched upon return to the States.
Vanloo does not care. In fact, she did not think the WNBA’s mid-season break gave her enough time to prepare for the Olympics so she is actually choosing to leave Golden State even earlier than necessary.
Last year, I barely participated in the preparation. It took me two games at the Games to get back into the rhythm of the team. I learned from that. With Mike (Thibault, the American coach of the Cats), we will do everything we can to ensure that I play at least one or two preparation matches with the Cats before the start of the Euro.
— Julie Vanloo, via DH Les Sports
I don’t think the Valkyries are going to trade their best ball-handler. It probably helps that she is one of the league’s newest team’s biggest stars. Fans would not be thrilled. Optics would be poor.
Julie Vanloo essentially said, “Whatcha gonna do about it?” and left. I’ll be rooting for Belgium for her!