Audio By Carbonatix
The WNBA season runs from mid-May to the championship series in early October, which runs in parallel to international competition like FIBA EuroBasket. Players who want to leave their professional club to represent their country overseas face the threat of being traded as a result of the crossover scheduling.
Julie Vanloo does not seem to care.
Last year’s WNBA regular season took a three-week break for the Olympics. Every single team in the league was off from mid-July through mid-August regardless of whether players on their rosters played in Paris or not. That is not the case this year. A league-wide break is not on the calendar.
However, there are a number players who are going to take one anyway!
Vanloo was selected as the Golden State Valkyries’ pick from the Washington Mystics in the recent expansion draft. The 32-year-old point guard is currently in her prime and also competes for the Belgian national team. She played for Belgium at EuroBasket Women in 2017 and 2020 and plans to do so again this summer. That creates a dilemma.
Golden State obviously does not want its primary ball-handler to leave the team right in the middle of the season to play for her country when it is trying to win as many games as possible. WNBA teams cannot stop a player from doing so, but they can levy a threat. Vanloo worries that she could be put in that position, to where she could be traded if she does choose to play in EuroBasket competition.
I don’t know [when I will be able to join the Belgian team]. 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
Belgium won the European title in 2020. Julie Vanloo wants to go back-to-back.
It’s a personal goal for me and for the Cats. We’re aiming for another medal. And given the absences in the other national teams, I’m aware that we have a good card to play.
— Julie Vanloo, via DH Les Sports
The “absences” to which Vanloo refers are the players on other European teams who are opting out. Gabby Williams, Satou Sabally Dominique Malonga, Carla Leite and Kyara Linskens already announced they are in the WNBA instead of going to compete in EuroBasket. They were not able to opt out of the regular season with their American clubs. Perhaps that same threat of being traded loomed too large.
Regardless of what the Valkyries say and/or do, Julie Vanloo is dead set on playing for Belgium. In fact, she would prefer to get back to her home country even earlier than last year.
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
Will Golden State really trade its best player if she dips out for four-to-six weeks in the middle of the regular season? I don’t think so. However, it is something of a Catch-22. Either they keep Vanloo on the roster and play without her or they trade her and play without her.
These next few weeks will be interesting. European players are more prevalent in the WNBA now than ever before. I am curious to see who chooses to play in the EuroBasket tournament and who stays. The clubs don’t have the power to stop them but they can trade them!