Olympic medallist and dual WNBA champion Sami Whitcomb has one more title to tick off
She’s a dual WNBA champion and Olympic medallist, but at her third WNBL team, Sami Whitcomb is on the hunt for her first national title.
Still on a high from the Olympic medal she had always dreamt of winning, star Opals guard Sami Whitcomb has her sights on another breakthrough in the WNBL this summer.
One of Australia’s leading performers at this year’s Games, Whitcomb has used her Paris platform to launch a dominant start to her WNBL campaign with her new team Bendigo Spirit.
The 36-year-old leads the league scoring with an average of 23.4 points per game for the ladder-leading Spirit, which is unbeaten after seven games this season.
It is Whitcomb’s third WNBL team after stints with Perth Lynx and then Townsville Fire last season, and the two-time WNBA champion with the Seattle Storm is targeting a first WNBL crown.
“I’ve been in and out (of the league) since 2016 ... I haven’t won one, so it would be really exciting to win one,” Whitcomb said before Bendigo’s clash against Perth on Thursday.
“I’m just enjoying playing with the group and really just enjoying playing basketball at the moment and that’s really what it’s about.
“Hopefully, I can experience that, but if not I’m really grateful to just get the chance to continue to play.
“I think if we can continue to play together, play well, play at a high level we have a shot like any other team.
“You just want to be playing your best basketball come finals, so we’ll see if that’s what we’re doing.”
The US-born Whitcomb is relishing her new environment at Bendigo, where she has joined up with her fellow Paris Opal Marianna Tolo.
“It’s been really fun since I joined the group and the style that we are playing and hopefully we can continue to have a good season and enjoy it,” Whitcomb said.
“I really liked some of the players that I knew were going to be there, the style, the basketball community here. It’s just very family friendly as well.
“I really enjoy playing with Tolo. Obviously a really great player but a really great quality person and teammate and somebody you know if they are on the team, the team environment, the atmosphere, the culture and all that is going to be top notch.”
Whitcomb was one of Australia’s leading performers at the Paris Olympics en route to their bronze medal in the third-place playoff against Belgium.
She clocked more minutes than any other Opal and led the scoring averages (13 points per game) and assists (5.3) across the tournament.
“The Olympics was a really incredible team campaign,” Whitcomb said.
“I feel like we had so many different people stepping up at different stages, I was just really fortunate to be a part of that group.
“That was a really special thing that I will cherish for a long time.”
While Whitcomb hails from California and remains in eye-catching form in her mid-30s, she ruled out another Olympic campaign at the Los Angeles Games in 2028.
“I was very lucky to make it to this one (Paris) and to be a part of this team,” Whitcomb said.
“I think I will well and truly be an afterthought by that Olympic campaign.
“But it will be exciting to see the team that competes there. I think it is going to be very, very good.
“I can’t imagine I will still be playing basketball at that stage.”
Whitcomb never envisaged she would set up her life in Australia when she initially came here to play in 2013.
“I came just for an SBL season in Rockingham and I guess I just saw what the WNBL was all about and it was a level that I aspired to play at,” Whitcomb said.
“But it took me three or four years to make a roster.
“It wasn’t the plan originally but once I got here and experienced it, it quickly became a place where I wanted to stay.”
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