Post by WBBDaily on Jan 19, 2023 22:13:55 GMT -5
TEL AVIV-YAFO, Israel — Tipoff for an early December EuroCup contest is less than 15 minutes away and Shakira Austin, a center for Israel’s Elitzur Ramla during her offseason from the WNBA’s Washington Mystics, is still finishing her pregame stretching. As the clock over the backboard ticks down, all of Austin’s teammates fire up shots on their side of the court. Austin appears to be in no rush to join them, however; she has just over 10 minutes left to warm up. Plus, she’s well aware that the basketball will find her plenty once the action begins for real.
Though it takes until the 6:17 mark of the first quarter of her team’s matchup against Hungary’s PEAC-Pécs for Austin to take — and make — her first shot of the night, once she hits her initial attempt with a contested left-handed layup, her aggressiveness doesn’t waver. All told, in Ramla’s 69-58 win, she displays the same dynamism that made her one of the WNBA’s top rookies last season. Austin finishes the victory with 22 points on 9-of-21 shooting. She hauls in 12 rebounds (six offensive), notches four steals and adds one block.
She does more than that, though: During a stoppage in play with just over two minutes until halftime, she grabs a towel, drops to her knees and dries a wet spot near her team’s bench. She is also the last player to leave the floor when the game concludes, doing so only after taking numerous photos with fans and conducting two brief on-court interviews (one with this very outlet).
Such is life for a player of Austin’s stature in Israel. She handles the pageantry of being her team’s biggest star and is tasked with having to produce in abundance on a nightly basis. Though Ramla rosters other American-born players — her Washington teammate Alysha Clark is among them — Austin plays a significant role in how her team performs. Her presence in Israel, though, has far greater implications.
Israel’s professional women’s basketball league is not the only place overseas in which Americans have an outsized impact on an association’s on-court product. But in Israel, where numerous high-quality WNBA players play each winter, their impact is illustrative of how top international players can shape a league’s style of play and change it year to year.
This past offseason, for instance, Israel’s most financially prosperous teams signed talented centers. Austin plays for Ramla and averages 20 points and 11.9 rebounds in domestic competition. Kalani Brown, the No. 7 pick in the 2019 draft, is a part of Maccabi Ashdod and is averaging 22.8 points and 10.2 rebounds per Israeli contest. Another club, A.S. Ramat Hasharon, signed Charli Collier, the No. 1 pick in the 2021 draft. She is putting up 13.2 points and 8.7 rebounds on average.
The result means that having strong post players is almost a necessity if an Israeli team wants to contend for a league title this spring. “You have to bring a big that’s going to compete with them or you’re not going to win,” says Jillian Alleyne, an American center with Maccabi Ironi Ramat Gan, who has previously spent time in the WNBA with the Mystics and Minnesota Lynx. “There’s a lot of influence that we have.”
Chelsea Hopkins is an American guard who has suited up in Israel for a decade. Though Hopkins has played for four WNBA teams in her professional career, most recently with the Chicago Sky in 2018, her career has flourished in Israel, where she’s watched dozens upon dozens of international players pass through the Middle Eastern country. Hopkins, 32, notes the abundance of English speakers around Tel Aviv, the strong community among international players — most teams are within a 30-minute drive of each other — warm beachy weather and relatively high level of play makes Israeli an attractive destination for many pros. Financially, the league may not be as lucrative as some others, but top Americans can additionally earn around $10,000 to $15,000 monthly, and some can even see monthly salaries of around $20,000.
Recent WNBA All-Stars like Tiffany Hayes, Jasmine Thomas and Betnijah Laney have played in Israel, but each did so early on in her career. That trend is relatively common. For that reason, Hopkins characterizes the Israeli league as “a really good stepping stone” for international players. “It’s definitely a launch-your-career league,” she says.
Being a nation where American players go to develop is another selling point for Israeli teams. But being a destination where international players often just pick up a passport stamp for a single winter and don’t return can also lead to a high level of roster turnover and style volatility. “It’s a super trendy league,” Hopkins adds. “Obviously people are watching who signs where, and then people kind of just follow suit in terms of building their roster.”
From the perspective of those native to the country, that creates a waiting game every Israeli league offseason. Questions about who might return to the country for consecutive seasons make marketing the league, and its homegrown players, difficult. Says Ohad Gal, the coach of A.S.A Jerusalem: “If an import player … is staying with one team for more than two years, it’s amazing. It’s a miracle.”
Israel is looking to become more of a force in the international women’s basketball space. It is set to co-host EuroBasket 2023 this summer. Hopkins adds that several Israeli players are “up and coming.” Though some overseas leagues, like China’s, permit only one international player per team, Israeli allows three. The result, says Gal: “Local players are getting lost, because the difference between WNBA players and local players here are huge.”
Clark (who holds Israeli citizenship) came over within the last month, joining Austin and Ramla. More commonly, though, American players in Israel are in stages of their careers in which continued development is paramount. Breanna Richardson, an American forward who was a key member of Mississippi State’s 2017 Final Four team and is a member of Bnot Herzliya, says the country’s gameplay is not as structured as some teams for which she’s played. That, though, forces her to play a larger variety of roles. “To me, I think it’s Americans versus Americans. Like literally, it’s our three versus y’all three. Who is going to win?” she says.
Richardson, who played in Israel in her first two seasons after college, also has suited up in Spain, Turkey, Germany and France. But back in Israel this winter, she might be guarding Mystics wings Jazmine Jones or Shatori Walker-Kimbrough one night. On other occasions, Richardson might be banging bodies down low with Austin, Brown, Collier or Alleyne. “Here,” she says, “it’s more: ‘Americans, go do your thing.’”
Though it takes until the 6:17 mark of the first quarter of her team’s matchup against Hungary’s PEAC-Pécs for Austin to take — and make — her first shot of the night, once she hits her initial attempt with a contested left-handed layup, her aggressiveness doesn’t waver. All told, in Ramla’s 69-58 win, she displays the same dynamism that made her one of the WNBA’s top rookies last season. Austin finishes the victory with 22 points on 9-of-21 shooting. She hauls in 12 rebounds (six offensive), notches four steals and adds one block.
She does more than that, though: During a stoppage in play with just over two minutes until halftime, she grabs a towel, drops to her knees and dries a wet spot near her team’s bench. She is also the last player to leave the floor when the game concludes, doing so only after taking numerous photos with fans and conducting two brief on-court interviews (one with this very outlet).
Such is life for a player of Austin’s stature in Israel. She handles the pageantry of being her team’s biggest star and is tasked with having to produce in abundance on a nightly basis. Though Ramla rosters other American-born players — her Washington teammate Alysha Clark is among them — Austin plays a significant role in how her team performs. Her presence in Israel, though, has far greater implications.
Israel’s professional women’s basketball league is not the only place overseas in which Americans have an outsized impact on an association’s on-court product. But in Israel, where numerous high-quality WNBA players play each winter, their impact is illustrative of how top international players can shape a league’s style of play and change it year to year.
This past offseason, for instance, Israel’s most financially prosperous teams signed talented centers. Austin plays for Ramla and averages 20 points and 11.9 rebounds in domestic competition. Kalani Brown, the No. 7 pick in the 2019 draft, is a part of Maccabi Ashdod and is averaging 22.8 points and 10.2 rebounds per Israeli contest. Another club, A.S. Ramat Hasharon, signed Charli Collier, the No. 1 pick in the 2021 draft. She is putting up 13.2 points and 8.7 rebounds on average.
The result means that having strong post players is almost a necessity if an Israeli team wants to contend for a league title this spring. “You have to bring a big that’s going to compete with them or you’re not going to win,” says Jillian Alleyne, an American center with Maccabi Ironi Ramat Gan, who has previously spent time in the WNBA with the Mystics and Minnesota Lynx. “There’s a lot of influence that we have.”
Chelsea Hopkins is an American guard who has suited up in Israel for a decade. Though Hopkins has played for four WNBA teams in her professional career, most recently with the Chicago Sky in 2018, her career has flourished in Israel, where she’s watched dozens upon dozens of international players pass through the Middle Eastern country. Hopkins, 32, notes the abundance of English speakers around Tel Aviv, the strong community among international players — most teams are within a 30-minute drive of each other — warm beachy weather and relatively high level of play makes Israeli an attractive destination for many pros. Financially, the league may not be as lucrative as some others, but top Americans can additionally earn around $10,000 to $15,000 monthly, and some can even see monthly salaries of around $20,000.
Recent WNBA All-Stars like Tiffany Hayes, Jasmine Thomas and Betnijah Laney have played in Israel, but each did so early on in her career. That trend is relatively common. For that reason, Hopkins characterizes the Israeli league as “a really good stepping stone” for international players. “It’s definitely a launch-your-career league,” she says.
Being a nation where American players go to develop is another selling point for Israeli teams. But being a destination where international players often just pick up a passport stamp for a single winter and don’t return can also lead to a high level of roster turnover and style volatility. “It’s a super trendy league,” Hopkins adds. “Obviously people are watching who signs where, and then people kind of just follow suit in terms of building their roster.”
From the perspective of those native to the country, that creates a waiting game every Israeli league offseason. Questions about who might return to the country for consecutive seasons make marketing the league, and its homegrown players, difficult. Says Ohad Gal, the coach of A.S.A Jerusalem: “If an import player … is staying with one team for more than two years, it’s amazing. It’s a miracle.”
Israel is looking to become more of a force in the international women’s basketball space. It is set to co-host EuroBasket 2023 this summer. Hopkins adds that several Israeli players are “up and coming.” Though some overseas leagues, like China’s, permit only one international player per team, Israeli allows three. The result, says Gal: “Local players are getting lost, because the difference between WNBA players and local players here are huge.”
Clark (who holds Israeli citizenship) came over within the last month, joining Austin and Ramla. More commonly, though, American players in Israel are in stages of their careers in which continued development is paramount. Breanna Richardson, an American forward who was a key member of Mississippi State’s 2017 Final Four team and is a member of Bnot Herzliya, says the country’s gameplay is not as structured as some teams for which she’s played. That, though, forces her to play a larger variety of roles. “To me, I think it’s Americans versus Americans. Like literally, it’s our three versus y’all three. Who is going to win?” she says.
Richardson, who played in Israel in her first two seasons after college, also has suited up in Spain, Turkey, Germany and France. But back in Israel this winter, she might be guarding Mystics wings Jazmine Jones or Shatori Walker-Kimbrough one night. On other occasions, Richardson might be banging bodies down low with Austin, Brown, Collier or Alleyne. “Here,” she says, “it’s more: ‘Americans, go do your thing.’”