Paris 2024: How Amy Atwell stayed ready before shock late call-up to Opals Olympic team

Called in to help the Opals prepare for Paris after being dumped from the squad, Amy Atwell’s Olympic hopes were slim — but not none. Here’s how the Aussie sharpshooter stayed ready.

Days after she was dumped from the Opals Olympic team, Amy Atwell got a late call to be an extra body and help her compatriots prepare for their chase for Paris gold.

The 26-year-old sharpshooter acknowledged it was “a bit of ‘No thanks – but actually can you come help us prepare?’,” but saw it as an opportunity to stay right under the selectors’ nose.

If nothing came of it, she’d planned to hang around Paris to support partner Ally Wilson as she repped the Gangurrus in the Olympic 3X3 tournament.

So, when injury struck Bec Allen in a warm-up against Canada, no phone call was needed.

“Obviously it was disappointing getting the news that I didn’t make the final team,” Atwell, who has just inked a new deal to return to Perth Lynx for WNBL25, told Code Sports, last week.

“I found that out on Friday night and then it was the Monday morning that my phone rang and they’re like, ‘listen, actually, can you come to Spain and train with us and be an emergency?’.

Amy Atwell has won a late call up to the Opals Olympic team.

“It was a great opportunity to stay in the mix and show myself that I was super close and just to be around the girls and do whatever I can to continue to help the team and Australia medal in any way I can.”

With Allen suffering a high-grade hamstring injury, Atwell — who has made a career out of staring down adversity and finding silver linings — will now join the fight for gold.

It’s almost unsaid, but the goal is a podium finish in Paris.

“You see what we did at the World Cup two years ago (bronze) and that just shows that we’re very much still in that mix,” she said.

“There hasn’t actually been too much spoken about it.

“We’re all just here to get the best out of each other and do everything we can to finish as high as they can.”

Amy Atwell supports partner Ally Wilson during a 3X3 tournament. Picture: Instagram

LOVE AND BASKETBALL

Atwell pays tribute to the game that has given her so much – including a partner in fellow pro and Aussie Gangurrus 3X3 Olympic starlet Ally Wilson.

“In my first WNBL season we played against each other and then we were actually part of the 3X3 Australian squad together so it’s another thing I have to thank basketball for,” Atwell said.

“We’ve both experienced the highs and lows of sport first hand so it’s really nice to have someone who has that experience when I’m going through it.

“I can talk to her about all things basketball, good and bad, and she understands and knows where I’m coming from.

“It’s pretty special having someone like her to lean on.”

Ally Wilson in action for Australia’s 3X3 team. Picture: Getty Images

OPTIONS APLENTY — BUT PERTH’S HOME

Born and bred in Perth, Atwell’s grandfather is legendary WAFL hard man Mal Atwell, who won five premierships with East Perth and Perth.

There were no shortage of WNBL teams trying to entice her away from the Lynx.

The 26-year-old listened, but never seriously considered leaving – especially once the club made possible an on-court union with Wilson.

“The possibility of playing with Ally was something we were both really interested in doing and would be really cool if it worked out,” she said.

“So it definitely played a part in her coming to Perth and me returning.

“But I’ve loved my past two seasons there and I love (coach) Ryan (Petrik) and his coaching style and his style of play.

“At the end of the day, Perth is home to me and it’s a great fit for my basketball and me as a person, so it was an easy decision in the end.”

The disappointment of last year’s WNBL grand final still stings Amy Atwell. Picture: Getty Images

MOTIVATION FROM HEARTBREAK

Atwell winces when last season’s WNBL grand final is mentioned.

The Lynx were a couple of mistakes away from the championship, but fell to Southside in three games.

Such is the nature of basketball, though, she hasn’t had much time to really reflect and compartmentalise.

“It definitely still stings, I try not to think about it too much,” she said.

“But I was straight into NBL1 with Bendigo and preparing for a WNBA training camp, so my mind switched pretty quickly, which probably wasn’t a bad thing.

“This pre-season coming up with the Lynx it’ll probably be at the forefront of my mind but it’s just extra motivation going forward.”

Atwell’s WNBA dream remains alive. Picture: Getty Images/AFP

WNBA AND DISAPPOINTMENT

The aforementioned WNBA camp was in Phoenix in April.

Atwell spent a couple of weeks in the US, hoping to tack on with the Mercury – and a second stint in the big league.

“Unfortunately, I didn’t make the final team and then I came back and continued playing for Bendigo in NBL1,” Atwell said.

She took the p155 in the second-tier, averaging 27 points and draining 44 treys in 12 games – including a 50-point explosion against Knox, last month.

“I try my best,” she laughed.

Atwell got her first taste of the WNBA in 2022, when she was snapped up in the draft by LA.

She caught the eye of the Sparks – and world basketball – by, again, turning a negative into a positive.

Up against the might of Baylor in the NCAA Tournament, her Hawaii team was hammered 89-49.

But Atwell scored more than half her team’s points in a literal one-woman show that featured 29 points and 13 rebounds.

“Drawing Baylor and getting our arses kicked, for lack of a better term, was tough, but I had a pretty good game and that kind of is what set me up to get drafted, performing that well on a big stage with the right people watching,” she said.

Her stint with the Sparks lasted just four games – but she knows the door isn’t closed on a WNBA opportunity just yet.

“It’s definitely cut throat over there but it’s the best league in the world for a reason,” she said.

“I was lucky enough to get drafted there and make the final roster out of training camp but you can get waived or cut at any point during the season.

“It definitely hurt at the time but, just like anything else, it’s just another setback that I use as motivation and it helped me develop my basketball career.”

Amy Atwell might just be the best shooter in Australia. Picture: Getty Images

BEST SHOOTER IN AUSTRALIA?

Atwell literally shot herself into Opals Paris calculations, leading the WNBL in three-point makes with 81 at a gaudy 40 per cent while finishing second in scoring to teammate Aari McDonald at 18.8 per game – numbers Opals selectors had to reward with consideration.

But it was an early piece of advice – and then more adversity – that put her on the trajectory of deadeye markswoman.

“Shooting wasn’t something I was known for in my junior years but my junior coach at Willeton Craig Reynolds said it was something I had to develop if I wanted to take my game further,” she said.

“He was the one who really pushed me to go to college and he encouraged me to shoot more and bring more into my game.

“So mum would take me down to the local high school every Saturday morning and I’d shoot and she would rebound.

“My mum rebounded for me, I had a great support system.

“From there it really started to develop and then before I went to college I was a much stronger shooter.”

A ruptured ACL before her first year of college left her with little choice but to become a lights out shooter.

“I went over there with a torn ACL so all I could do in my rehab was stationary catch and shoot.

“So the injury sucked but I was on the shooting machine every day and then from there the shooting just took off and I was like, ‘OK, I’m actually a good shooter now and I just got better and better, I guess.”

Originally published as Paris 2024: How Amy Atwell stayed ready before shock late call-up to Opals Olympic team