July 16, 2021 

UPDATED: Liz Cambage opts out of Olympics

Cites mental health after alleged incident at closed-door scrimmage

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Liz Cambage. (WNBA Media Central)

Australian basketball star Liz Cambage announced early Friday that she is opting out of the 2021 Olympics.

The decision came after Cambage was allegedly involved in an incident during the Australian national team’s training camp in Las Vegas that may have jeopardized her spot on the team’s roster, according to multiple reports.

The four-time WNBA all-star was involved in a physical altercation, as well as a heated verbal exchange, during a closed-door scrimmage against the Nigerian national team, according to Olgun Uluc of ESPN. Uluc says the Australian Olympic committee has been made aware of the incident and is currently awaiting a report. There are also reports that she has broken team health and safety protocols. 

Cambage, a center for the Las Vegas Aces, is the Opals’ most prolific player. An appearance in the 2021 Games would have marked her third Olympics, and she had long pointed to the Tokyo Olympics as a career goal.

Cambage’s agent, Allison Galer, declined to comment on the situation to a reporter for The Next.

Jackie Powell contributed reporting to this story.

Written by Tee Baker

Tee has been a contributor to The Next since March Madness 2021 and is currently a contributing editor, BIG EAST beat reporter and curator of historical deep dives.

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