Due to health reasons that put her at greater risk of contracting COVID-19, Los Vegas Aces star Liz Cambage is expected to be left out of the next modified WNBA season, her agent told The Associated Press on Saturday night.
His agent, Allison Galer, did not share the pre-existing conditions that Cambage was citing for privacy reasons.
“In evaluating Liz Cambage’s health and preexistence risk factors with her team doctor, we believe she is at high risk for serious illness if she contracts COVID-19 to participate in this WNBA season,” said Galer, through The Associated Press. . “We are awaiting the league’s determination based on a panel of independent physicians.”
The WNBA season will begin later this month from the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida, approximately 100 miles from where the NBA will resume its season at Walt Disney World, near Orlando.
WNBA players can choose not to participate in the season without penalty, and many have already done so. If the independent panel of league doctors can determine that a player is choosing not to participate in the season due to medical reasons, she will still receive her full salary. Cambage, according to the Associated Press, is one of the “few” players that the independent panel will review.
There were more than 2.8 million confirmed cases of coronavirus in the United States as of Saturday night, according to The New York Times, and it was attributed nearly 130,000 deaths. There were also more than 50,000 new cases in the country on both Thursday and Friday, including more than 55,500 on Thursday alone, a new single-day record.
Cases have also increased in several states, including Florida. The state had more than 190,000 confirmed cases as of Saturday night, of which more than 10,100 arrived Thursday alone, a single-day record for the state.
Cambage averaged 15.9 points and 8.2 rebounds for the Aces last season, his first with the team. The Australian native was first recruited by Tulsa Shock in 2011, although he left the league for five years after the 2013 season to play in both Australia and China. He returned to the WNBA in 2018, signing a new agreement with the organization, which has since moved to Dallas and became Wings. The 28-year-old was traded to Las Vegas in the offseason.
She is one of two Aces players to be missed this season, joining guard Kelsey Plum, who suffered an Achilles injury last month, according to the report.
“Liz is a generational talent and we are going to miss her this season on the court and in the locker room,” Aces general manager Dan Padover said through The Associated Press. “She has been incredibly active this offseason in the community raising money to support first responders who fought the wildfires in Australia, continuing to shed light on mental health awareness and at the forefront of peaceful protests in her country that are fighting against racial and social inequality, and I have no doubt that it will continue to do so this summer. “
Liz Cambage is not expected to play the WNBA season in Florida due to health reasons related to the coronavirus pandemic. (M. Anthony Nesmith / Icon Sportswire / Getty Images)
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