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Why isn't Gabe Williams playing in the WNBA?
It’s a question Williams has had to ponder many times over the past four years, one that has come to the forefront after the former Connecticut guard’s dominant performance at the Paris Olympics. As Williams discusses returning to the league where she has played 135 games since 2018, the barriers to her return raise important questions about player agency in the WNBA and what changes the players’ union should prioritize when it decides whether to opt out of the current collective bargaining agreement at the end of 2024.
Williams, who led France to a silver medal and averaged 15.5 points, 4.8 assists and 2.8 steals per game at the Olympics, entered the 2024 WNBA summer transfer window as an unrestricted free agent. A skilled defender throughout her career, she has improved her ball handling and shot creation while playing in Europe and could immediately slot into the goalie roster.
But Williams has been an on-and-off member of the WNBA since 2021. She was unable to play that entire season and has dealt with prioritization challenges in each of the past two years. The players’ union has a variety of priorities to address in a new collective bargaining agreement, including salaries, maternity protections (especially important after the Derek Hamby lawsuit) and revenue sharing. Williams’ experience also highlights the agency and autonomy of players, and the kind of freedoms that female players have gained after helping to build the league.
The best of Xi'an 👑
Gaby Williams helped France 🇫🇷 win #Fibaoqiu In Xi'an, he averaged 16.3 points, 4.0 rebounds, 2.7 free throws, and 19.3 assists, and was named TISSOT MVP ⚙️ pic.twitter.com/UALfRCwPCe
— International Basketball Federation (@FIBA) February 12, 2024
During the 2024 transfer window, Williams chose to spend the first half of the season preparing for the Olympics rather than sign with a team. Because she retained her free agent status and finished her European season with the club before May 1, Williams is not bound by the WNBA’s priority clause, which requires players competing internationally to report at the start of the WNBA calendar (even if their foreign team is still playing) or be suspended for the season. She can choose to play the rest of the season in the United States provided the team has roster space and available cap space. Even with the WNBA’s trade deadline on Tuesday, Williams is likely the most impactful addition a team can make before the end of the regular season.
However, as Originally reported by Rachel Galligan On X and confirmed by The athleteWilliams is considering a return to the WNBA this season because of the impact that decision could have on her options in 2025. If Williams simply chooses to avoid the WNBA in 2024 (she already has a contract to play with Turkish powerhouse Fenerbahce for 2024-25), she will again be an unrestricted free agent in the 2025 transfer window and have full control over where she plays in the league next year. However, if she signs for the remainder of the season, that team will have the opportunity to sign Williams and thus retain her exclusive negotiating rights for 2025.
WNBA teams have the opportunity to designate a free agent as a starting player during the offseason. The player can then negotiate with the team only as a free agent and is guaranteed a one-year contract, unless the two parties agree to a deal with different terms or a trade.
The purpose of this basic clause was to give teams the ability to protect their investment in a player. After selecting, developing, and investing in a player, the basic clause gives teams another mechanism to retain top talent in their organizations. However, it also by definition reduces a player’s freedom, which was the unintentional story of Williams’ WNBA career.
In 2021, Williams was scheduled to miss part of the season to compete in the EuroBasket and the Tokyo Olympics for France. Although she expected to be able to return to the United States once her international commitments were complete, the Chicago Sky suspended her for the full season, meaning she was not awarded her WNBA contract. In 2023, a priority clause would have prevented Williams from playing for the Seattle Storm because her French season ended after the WNBA calendar began. She ended up being able to play for the Storm due to an unexpected coincidence; she suffered a concussion in France, thus prematurely ending her European season and becoming available to play for Seattle.
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Why is Gabby Williams the first test case for the WNBA's priority rule?
Now, Williams finds her independence threatened by another provision of the collective bargaining agreement: the fundamental clause.
Williams’ case challenges the premise of the clause. She is not a franchise player. If she returns to the WNBA, it will be to a team that didn’t draft her and doesn’t give her any marketing money because she’s always offseason. And no team will invest more than the $20,000 or so that it will pay her for about a dozen regular-season games to close out the season. And during that limited window, the team will be able to control where she plays in 2025.
As the WNBA grows in size and revenue, the collective labor agreement still exists to protect the interests of teams, not players. Mechanisms like restricted free agency, strict caps, and the core inhibit player markets and their ability to seek positions of their choice.
As a result, players are forced to make tough decisions that often discourage them from playing in the WNBA. Priorities force them to choose between playing abroad and in the U.S., and overseas contracts often trump what the best players can earn in the U.S. Elena Delle Donne was drafted this offseason by the Washington Mystics, and now the veteran is sitting on the sidelines despite expressing interest in playing elsewhere, leaving the WNBA missing out on one of the last healthy seasons for a two-time MVP.
Williams could stay in France and bask in the glory of her silver medal for a month before moving on to Turkey. Instead, the decision to help a team chase a WNBA title could tie her down, putting her WNBA career back in the hands of an outside actor. Professional experience should be a priority for players, not forcing them to rely on the promises and goodwill of organizations. The reason Williams isn’t playing in the WNBA is because she’s trying to control her career, and the league’s CBA is trying to control hers.
(Photo: Jan Catovi/Getty Images)
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