The Golden State Valkyries did Julie Vanloo as dirty as possible. The newest team in the WNBA cut her loose just hours after she won a gold medal for her country at the European championships.
It didn’t even allow her the opportunity to celebrate the victory with her international team.
Vanloo, 32, played her first season in the WNBA in 2024 with the Mystics after a lengthy and well-decorated professional basketball career in France, Sweden, New Zealand and Turkey, among other countries. She averaged 7.4 points, 4.3 assists and 1.6 rebounds in 23.2 minutes per game as a 34-game starter for Washington last season.
The Valkyries later selected Julie Vanloo as their starting point guard in the expansion draft but she played just nine games with Golden State with only two starts. She averaged 4.6 points, 4.1 assists and 1.9 rebounds during that time.
Her last game was on June 9. At that point, Vanloo defied the organization’s wishes and took a leave of absence to play for Team Belgium at the FIBA EuroBasket tournament. Belgium was the reigning champion of the European championships. Its starting point guard wanted to run it back.
WNBA teams cannot cut a player if she leaves to play for her country. They can trade her, which Kamilla Cardoso is daring the Chicago Sky to do, but they cannot outright terminate her contract. Technically and legally speaking, that is not what happened with Vanloo. (Even though it is!)
Julie Vanloo did not have any issues with international duty in 2024 because the WNBA took a three-week break during the regular season for the Olympics. Not this year! The Valkyries did not want their players to leave for EuroBasket or any of the other continental competitions right in the middle of the regular season. Their point guard outright said as much at the end of May.
It will be different for everyone. It depends on our WNBA schedule, our role on the team, our fitness, and the club’s flexibility. It’s not easy. The Valkyries aren’t very keen on letting us go. Clubs can’t ban us from playing for our country, but they put pressure on us. They can threaten to trade us if we go with the national team. I’m afraid I’ll have to face that ordeal myself. But everyone knows how much I love playing for the Cats.
— Julie Vanloo, via DH Les Sports on May 19
The wishes of Golden State did not matter to Vanloo. She wanted to go back-to-back with her Belgian teammates so she left the WNBA in early June for EuroBasket. Belgian journalist Christophe Vandegoor said the Valkyries applied “immense pressure” not to go. She went anyway.
Valkyries head coach Natalie Nakase said she was staying in constant touch with the international players while they were overseas. That now appears to be a bold-faced lie.
Belgium ultimately played its way into the EuroBasket final. It then mounted an incredible comeback to beat Spain and win its second-straight gold medal.
They were down 12 with 2:40 remaining!
From -12 with 2:40, to winning the trophy! 🏆
— FIBA Women's EuroBasket (@EuroBasketWomen) June 29, 2025
BELGIUM COMPLETED THE MOTHER OF ALL COMEBACKS!#EuroBasketWomen | #DareToDream pic.twitter.com/f6rSstStQv
Team Belgium returned home to Brussels to a hero’s welcome on Monday.
Vanloo was not with them. She immediately flew 15+ hours back to San Francisco to return to the WNBA. However, the Golden State Valkyries let her know that she had been waived upon her arrival.
This decision did not stem from Julie Vanloo’s decision to play at EuroBasket— even though it was. Other players stepped up in her absence. The club decided that she is no longer needed. Golden State allowed her to fly all of the way back to California before it gave her the news while her teammates celebrated their second-straight EuroBasket championship back in Belgium. Brutal.