Opals coach Sandy Brondello says ‘door has closed’ on Liz Cambage ever representing Australia again

The Liz Cambage era is officially over. PETER MITCHELL speaks to Opals coach Sandy Brondello about her decision.

Liz Cambage has played her last game for the Opals. Picture: Chris Hyde/Getty Images

Liz Cambage’s career with the Opals is over with head coach Sandy Brondello confirming the “door has closed” on the Australian centre.

The 206 centimetre, four-time WNBA All-Star’s basketball career has unravelled in recent years and Brondello says she will only select players on the Opals who fit with the team’s culture.

Brondello’s stance comes as the Opals look to qualify for next year’s Paris Olympics and recover from a disastrous 2021 Tokyo Olympics when Cambage controversially left the squad on the eve of the tournament.

Asked if she would welcome Cambage back to the Australian team, Brondello replied: “No, I think Liz’s door has closed on the Opals now and that‘s partly to do with Liz.”

Brondello added it was not Cambage’s decision to cut ties with the Opals.

“No, it’s our decision,” Brondello said.

“In the Opals program you have to fit in with the culture that we had. Liz did some great things for the Opals, but it was too much hard work near the end, and we don’t need that. We have a short time together and one player can‘t overrule the team.

“It‘s all about the culture. We spend a lot of time on culture and if you can’t buy into the culture, I won’t pick you. It is as simple as that.”

Liz Cambage and Opals coach Sandy Brondello in happier times.

Cambage, 31, split with the Opals after a heated warm-up game against Nigeria just days out from the Tokyo Olympics. Cambage left the squad citing her mental health and said in an Instagram post she was having panic attacks and hyperventilating. Cambage was the Los Angeles Sparks’ star recruit last season, but she also left the WNBA team in controversy before the season ended and has not signed with another WNBA team. Instead, she joined Israel’s Maccabi Bnot Ashdod.

Brondello spoke exclusively to CODE Sports in Los Angeles this week during the Liberty’s two-game series against the Sparks. The Liberty won both, with Tuesday’s 76-69 victory giving Brondello her 200th career win as a head coach in the WNBA. She is just the ninth head coach to reach the milestone.

Brondello’s focus is on guiding her star-studded New York team – which features All-Stars Breanna Stewart, Sabrina Ionescu, Jonquel Jones and Courtney Vandersloot – to a WNBA championship this season and leading the Opals in Paris in July. The Opals still need to qualify for Paris and will compete at an Olympic qualifying tournament in February to earn their invitation.

With so many Opals playing in the WNBA, Brondello faces an Aussie almost every time her Liberty plays. She likes what she sees.

“The WNBA is the best league in the world, so even if they‘re playing limited minutes, they’re still getting better and most of the Opals are playing pretty good minutes,” Brondello said.

Australian and Seattle Storm centre Ezi Magbegor just earned her first WNBA All-Star selection and her Aussie Storm teammate Sami Whitcomb is in the best form of her career, finishing second to Ionescu’s historic effort in the recent All-Star three-point competition.

Brondello said of Cambage that “one player can’t overrule the team”. Picture: Ian Hitchcock/Getty Images

Brondello also praised the Storm’s rising Australian guard Jade Melbourne and Chicago Sky forward Alanna Smith, who is averaging 10 points and seven rebounds a game. Rebecca Allen (Connecticut Sun) and Kristy Wallace (Indiana Fever) have become key members of their squads and Cayla George’s frontrunner Las Vegas Aces are the bookmakers’ favourites to face Brondello’s Liberty for the WNBA Championship in October. Brondello also pointed to WNBL guard Stephanie Reid and teenagers Isobel Borlase and Nyadiew Puoch as chances to make the Opals.

The Opals will be looking to build on their bronze medal in last year’s World Cup in Sydney, but Brondello knows it will not be easy to reach the medal podium in Paris.

“I‘m excited because we have a good core group with a mixture of veterans and youth and we will have some hard decisions to make on the roster as we move forward,” she said.

“We always want to go win a medal, but we realise the rest of the world is getting better so we need to keep building on what we did at the World Cup.”

Originally published as Opals coach Sandy Brondello says ‘door has closed’ on Liz Cambage ever representing Australia again