‘I would rather be at Paris Fashion Week than having the shit beaten out of me on court’

Controversial Aussie basketball star Liz Cambage has turned her attention to fashion and modelling, revealing she has many talents.

Controversial basketball start Liz Cambage is hoping to play in China when it opens up again after Covid. Picture: Getty

Outspoken international basketball star Liz Cambage has her mind on fashion not fast breaks as she plots her next sporting move.

Cambage announced in August she was taking a break from the WNBA following her sudden split with the Los Angeles Sparks basketball team, to focus on “my healing and personal growth.”

“I just really had to take a step back and see where I wanted to be and who I wanted to be surrounded by in life,” Cambage said yesterday.

“I am feeling good, just having a break and focusing on modelling and fitness at the moment. I am feeling the best I have in a long time.”

The four-time WNBA All-Star said she had not ruled out returning to professional basketball, with her preference being to play in China.

“I don’t think I will ever stop that (playing basketball), but when it comes to doing it professionally I need to be in environments that are first of all professional and paying me my worth,” she said.

“That is why China needs to open back up, I miss that.”

Liz Cambage is focused on modelling, fashion and fitness during her basketball break. Picture: Ami Bilsk

Cambage has played for various teams in Women’s Chinese Basketball Association over her long and storied career.

“(That’s) the only place I really want to hoop now (but) they are really struggling with Covid, still, back in China,” she said.

However, she admitted basketball was not her only interest these days.

“I am in my 30s now and I have been a pro athlete since I was 15 - 16.,” she said.

“I have been doing it for a very long time and especially with a mind like mine, I am chasing a million goals.

“I have done a lot of everything I have ever wanted to do in basketball.

“I have been to two Olympics, I have been in and out of the WNBA since I was 19, played all over the world, seen a lot of things, and there is just so much more I want to chase in life than basketball courts and exit rows.

“I would rather be at Paris Fashion Week these days than having the shit beaten out of me on court anymore, so that is just where I am mentally.”

Cambage arrived home in Melbourne at the end of November and plans to stay in Australia for Christmas.

She attended the opening of Chapel Boxing and Fitness in Chapel Street, St Kilda on Saturday where she showed her boxing form, after taking up the sport in the first year of the Covid lockdown.

“Boxing really trained my eye to get back to basketball,” she said.

“I am so proud of my friends Luke and Wendy joining forces to bring some flashy and great fitness to Chapel Street. It is a very, very positive space.

“They have created a really amazing welcoming place for people of any fitness level, it really is a space for you.”

Fashion is increasingly a big part of Cambage’s story, being an ambassador for Rihanna’s Savage X Fenty line.

Cambage at the opening of Chapel Boxing and Fitness in St Kilda. Picture: Ami Bilsk

“I love through Rihanna and Savage X Fenty I get to be the true Leo that I am and share my self love and do what I love to do, and I hope that inspires women and boys and girls to really embrace who they are and love who they are,” she said.

“Life is boundless and we can do anything we put our minds to.”

Cambage is also growing her Melbourne-based Vitadrop vitamin company.

“I can’t lie, my days of being a Swisse ambassador really inspired me to chase my goals and build a business in the health and wellness space,” she said.

“Our products are for everyone. It is for people who are hungover on a Sunday and need a little more hydration, or it is for people going to the gym at 6am on a Wednesday and need a little kick. What we do is for everyone.”