- Cambage, who is half-Nigerian, have Nigerian-American sisters Chimey and Nneka Ogwumike as teammates at Sparks
- Her WNBA career was littered with alleged slurs, on-court tussles, Las Vegas binges, an OnlyFans side hustle and a rumored severe lack of popularity among teammates
Liz Cambage announced that she will be stepping away from the WNBA ‘for the time being’ on Monday after leaving the LA Sparks.
The announcement comes weeks after Cambage’s dramatic midseason departure from the Sparks after the team had agreed to a ‘contract divorce’ with the WNBA’s self-proclaimed ‘black sheep’ following her on-court tantrum.
This is the first time the 30-year-old has addressed the split and she has now apologized for her abrupt exit as she revealed she is taking time away from the game to focus on personal growth before clarifying past rumors.
In a statement shared to Instagram, Cambage said: ‘Playing for the Sparks was a dream come true and I’m honored to have shared the court with such amazing ladies for as long as we did. I’m sorry to have left abruptly and I wish it would have ended on a different note.
‘I’ve decided to step away from the league for the time being and I’m hopeful that the WNBA will do their part in creating safer environments and a stronger support system for their players.
‘While I’ll miss rocking the purple and gold, I’ll be taking this time to focus on my healing and personal growth before providing clarification on past rumors.
Liz Cambage has announced that she will be stepping away from the WNBA ‘for the time being
‘Thank you to all my supporters, family and friends for all the love and light you continue to surround me with.’
Cambage has not shied away from discussing her depression and substance abuse, criticizing the league’s unsatisfactory mental health support.
In 2019, Cambage wrote an essay in the Player’s Tribune, discussing getting blackout drunk at age 15, her first attempt at sobriety at 18, how she spent her rookie season alone in tears every night, being put on suicide watch in 2016, and a dependency on antidepressants.
The Aussie’s exit from the Sparks reportedly came after she threw a tantrum before later storming out of the dressing room in July amid the team’s playoff chase.
Sources close to the situation say Cambage was openly and verbally unhappy with her teammates during the game for not getting enough post touches, according to Yahoo Sports.
‘I can’t do this anymore. Best of luck to you guys,’ she said, according to sources.
The Sparks then set the record straight as, Managing Partner Eric Holoman released a statement, saying: ‘It is with support that we share Liz Cambage’s decision to terminate her contract with the organization.
The basketball star has been a frequent source of drama, including her OnlyFans
‘We want what’s best for Liz and have agreed to part ways amicably. The Sparks remain excited about our core group and are focused on our run towards a 2022 playoff berth.’
Since her dramatic departure, the Sparks lost eight of their final nine games of the regular season to fall out of playoff contention and finish with the second-worst record in the league.
As a frequent source of drama, her controversial departure was just the latest installment in a WNBA career littered with alleged slurs, on-court tussles, Las Vegas binges, an OnlyFans side hustle and a rumored severe lack of popularity among teammates.
Cambage joined the WNBA powerhouse as a free agent in February, but her short stint has been mired in controversy right from the start.
She couldn’t get either of the playing numbers she wanted, before the club intervened and took the number one jersey off Amanda Zahui B. without telling her, which left both Zahui and their teammates disappointed.
Zahui then found herself suspended, without pay, for the rest of the season in an unrelated move.
It is also understood Cambage would often call her teammates out in video review sessions, but perhaps the most impactful incident on the club’s deteriorating culture was her alleged racial slurs to Nigerian players prior to the Tokyo Olympics.
Cambage’s now infamous alleged racial slurs came during a pre-Olympics scrimmage between Australia and Nigeria, in which the Aussie also sparked a couple of brawls.
Opals teammates and members of the Nigerian team alleged Cambage called her opponents ‘monkeys’ and told the entire side to ‘go back to your third world country’ during a time out.
Cambage, who is half-Nigerian, has continued to deny the allegations.
Among her teammates at the Sparks were Nigerian-American sisters Chimey and Nneka Ogwumike.
Prior to reports surfacing about her on-court tantrum and dressing room blow-up, footage emerged of Chimey looking anything but friendly with her at a press conference.
As Cambage discusses her recovery from a third bout of COVID, Ogwumike can be seen rolling her eyes and shaking her head, very obviously unimpressed with her teammate.
Teammates Brittney Sykes (center) and Chimey Ogwumike (right) looked unimpressed as Cambage spoke during a press conference in July
Teammate Brittney Sykes was sandwiched between the pair at the press conference, and also appeared to be very unimpressed – though her reaction was not as overt as Ogwumike’s.
The Sparks were the only club interested in signing her so it is likely her highly successful, albeit stop-start, WNBA career, that includes four All-Star selections and the record for most points in a game, might have ended, especially following her announcement.
But Cambage has her OnlyFans account, modelling career, vitamin business and DJ skills to fall back on.
In particular her OnlyFans account appears to be a healthy source of income as last year her earnings on the site were estimated at $1.5m, according to TotalSportal.
First published in Daily Mail (UK)