Basketball star Liz Cambage poses nude for Playboy to embrace her sexuality
At 203cm tall, Liz Cambage has spent the past decade dominating the basketball world. Now, the Victorian powerhouse has turned her talents to Playboy — posing nude in a risque shoot she hopes will inspire others to feel empowered too.
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Basketball star Liz Cambage has posed nude for Playboy.
In a nod to empowerment and her sexuality, Cambage said she spent years as a teenager hating herself and trying to shrink into someone she wasn’t.
The WNBA star, who has signed with Southside Flyers for next season, said: “Thank you @playboy for this feature. This one goes out to anyone who isn’t empowered or confident in their own skin and sexuality.
“I really do hope my self love can help inspire those struggling to love their reflection, because I promise you, you are beautiful and lovable just the way you are!!!”
Cambage, 29, said in the Playboy interview that nudity is normal.
“It’s interesting how people perceive nudity as a sexual thing, whereas I’ve grown up in a country (where nudity is normalised) and been raised in locker rooms.
“I’m very comfortable going to the lake or going to the beach and swimming naked with friends and it not being looked at as a sexual thing.
“But here in America I feel like the human body is just so over-sexualised.
“The feedback I got when I did the Body Issue was very interesting. People saw it as a very sexual thing, but to me, my body is powerful. We bring life into this world with our bodies.
“Yet we cover them up, when we’re such powerful beings. I’m so proud of my skin. I’m so proud of my six foot eight body and everything I can do with it.”
Cambage said it wasn’t until she moved to America that she started to embrace her body and skin colour.
She said she expected a mixed reaction to the shoot, with one Las Vegas news service criticising her decision to do the shoot.
“I’ve never embraced my sexuality in public,’’ she said.
“Me doing Playboy is me celebrating my sexuality like, ‘yeah, I am a straight six foot eight woman who likes to have sex’.
“As a female athlete I feel like I’m not allowed to be sexy and I’m not allowed to be that person.
“All society wants from me is to sit down, shut up, go to training and play sport.”
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