WNBA players are scattered around the world during the offseason. Between Asia, Australia, and the EuroLeague, players from all 12 teams are competing in over a dozen countries around the world. Click here for an interactive map of the location of WNBA players abroad and see the most recent list below (subject to change, as not all players will be spending the entire winter abroad). Some will come back as others are just leaving, so stay tuned. [Player listing as of November 15, 2012].
Below we have compiled Five Things to Know for WNBA fans who would like to keep up with their favorite players competing abroad while the WNBA is in offseason mode.
UMMC in Yekaterinburg is the class of the Russian League thus far this season, sporting a 6-0 domestic league record [as of Dec, 5, 2012], thanks in large part to a star-studded roster including WNBA MVP's Diana Taurasi (Phoenix Mercury) and Candace Parker (Los Angeles Sparks). Three-time WNBA Champion with the Detroit Shock Deanna Nolan and current Seattle Storm player Ewelina Kobryn are also key contributors for UMMC, while Sue Bird is on the squad's roster but has yet to get any game action as she's recuperating from post-WNBA season surgery.
Crystal Langhorne and Kristi Toliver (Dynamo Moscow), Seimone Augustus, Becky Hammon and Candice Dupree (Spartak), Renee Montgomery and DeWanna Bonner (Nadezhda) and Epiphanny Prince and Temeka Johnson (Dynamo Kursk) are some of the other top WNBA players to be plying their trade in the former Soviet Union during the offseason.
Two legendary Istanbul-based sporting rivals -- Fenerbahce and Galatasary -- are also battling it out in the pursuit of top WNBA talent, with two of the WNBA's most dynamic talents -- Angel McCoughtry (Atlanta Dream) and Cappie Pondexter (NY Liberty) -- playing for Fenerbahce, while two 2012 Olympic gold medalists -- Sylvia Fowles (Chicago Sky) and Lindsay Whalen (Minnesota Lynx) -- rostered with Galatasary. Another Turkish club, Mersin, apparently targeted championship pedigree in their WNBA recruitment, signing current WNBA Champion Indiana Fever teammates Shavonte Zellous and Erlana Larkins.
WNBA representation in China has not only doubled in number, but there has been a signficant upgrade in star power. 2012 WNBA Finals Most Valuable Player and U.S. Olympic Team Co-Captain Tamika Catchings, fresh off her first WNBA championship with the Indiana Fever, is playing for Guangdong, while 2011 Rookie of the Year and fellow U.S. Olympic Gold Medalist Maya Moore of the Minnesota Lynx is leading the way for the Shanxi Xing Rui Flames squad.
Here's a quick explanation.
Most WNBAers are playing for teams that compete in the domestic league of the country they are playing in. So, Parker and Taurasi are playing in the Russian League and McCoughtry and Pondexter are in the Turkish League. The European teams, however, are ALSO competing in a larger, and in many respects more competitive and more prestigious league called the EuroLeague, which pits the top domestic teams from individual countries (ie. UMMC in Russia and Fenerbahce in Turkey) in a European wide tournament.
Fans of college basketball can think of it like Brittney Griner and Baylor University compete in the Big 12 where they face conference foes in pursuit of a conference championship. Additionally, Griner and Baylor will appear in the NCAA tournament, where the top teams in each conference are matched up in tournament crowning the best of the best as the National Champion. The domestic European leagues are akin to the conferences, while the EuroLeague is similar to the NCAA Tournament, including a Final Four.
Three-time WNBA MVP Lauren Jackson has signed with the Canberra Capitols in her native Australia and while Jackson has not yet played for Canberra due to injury, they are happy to have her Down Under. Fellow Aussie Jenna O'Hea of the Los Angeles Sparks also headed home, where she is playing for Dandenong Rangers.
The Atlanta Dream's Erika de Souza and Washington Mystic Izzy Castro-Marques are also in familiar surroundings during the WNBA offseason, as de Souza is playing at Recife and Castro-Marques at Maranhao, both in their native Brazil.
Player | Country | Team | |
![]() Atlanta |
de Souza, Erika | Brazil | Recife |
Hayes, Tiffany | Turkey | Besiktas, Istanbul | |
Henry, Aneika | Spain | Rivas Ecopolis | |
Koehn, Laurie | Australia | Logan Thunder | |
Kraayeveld, Cathrine | Korea | Shinhan Bank | |
Leuchanka, Yelena | China | Liaoning | |
Lyttle, Sancho | Turkey | Galatasary | |
McCoughtry, Angel | Turkey | Fenerbahce | |
Price, Armintie | Turkey | Besiktas, Istanbul | |
![]() Chicago |
Fowles, Sylvia | Turkey | Galatasaray |
Murphy, Shay | Russia | Dynmao Kursk | |
Prince, Epiphanny | Russia | Dynmao Kursk | |
Petrovic, Sonja | Russia | Spartak | |
Swords, Carolyn | Turkey | Ceyhan | |
Vandersloot, Courtney | Croatia | Novi Zagreb | |
![]() Connecticut |
Charles, Tina | Poland | Wisla Can Pack |
Griffin, Kelsey | Australia | Bendigo Spirit | |
Hightower, Allison | Israel | Ramla | |
Jones, Asjha | Turkey | Kayseri | |
McCray, Danielle | Italy | Schio | |
Mims, Mistie | France | Lyon | |
Montgomery, Renee | Russia | Nadezhda | |
Shegog, Chay | Hungary | UNI Seat Gyor | |
![]() Indiana |
Catchings, Tamika | China | Guandong |
Christmas, Karima | Israel | Ramat Hen | |
Davenport, Jessica | Turkey | Istanbul University | |
Douglas, Katie | Poland | Wisla Can Pack | |
Goodlett, Sasha | China | Heliongiiang | |
January, Briann | Israel | Ramat Hasharon | |
Larkins, Erlana | Turkey | Mersin | |
Zellous, Shavonte | Turkey | Mersin | |
![]() Los Angeles |
Anosike, Nicky | Turkey | Kayseri |
Lavender, Jantel | Italy | Schio | |
Milton-Jones, DeLisha | Turkey | Tarsus | |
Ogwumike, Nnemkadi | Poland | CCC Polkowice | |
O'Hea, Jenna | Australia | Dandenong | |
Parker, Candace | Russia | UMMC | |
Sykes, April | Australia | Dandenong | |
Toliver, Kristi | Russia | Dynamo Moscow | |
![]() Minnesota |
Adair, Jessica | Australia | Townsville |
Augustus, Seimone | Russia | Spartak | |
Brunson, Rebekkah | Czech Republic | USK Praha | |
Harris, Amber | Korea | Samsung Life Bichumi | |
Moore, Maya | China | Shanxi Xing Rui Flame | |
Peters, Devereaux | Italy | Le Mura Lucca | |
Whalen, Lindsay | Turkey | Galatasary | |
Wright, Monica | Australia | Dandenong | |
![]() New York |
Carson, Essence | Turkey | Istanbul University |
Mitchell, Leilani | Croatia | Novi Zagreb | |
Pierson, Plenette | Slovakia | Kosice | |
Pondexter, Cappie | Turkey | Fenerbahce | |
Powell, Nicole | Spain | Perfumerias Avenidas | |
Vaughn, Kia | Czech Republic | USK Praha | |
![]() Phoenix |
Bonner, DeWanna | Russia | Nadezhda |
Dupree, Candice | Russia | Spartak | |
Houston, Charde | Israel | Maccabi Ashdod | |
Kizer, Lynetta | Korea | KB Stars | |
Sanford, Nakia | Korea | Woori Bank Hansae | |
Simon, Dymond | Slovakia | Piestanske Cajky | |
Taurasi, Diana | Russia | UMMC | |
Thomas, Krystal | China | Jiangsu Phoenix | |
![]() San Antonio |
Adams, Danielle | Israel | Maccabi Ashdod |
Appel, Jayne | China | Henan | |
Hammon, Becky | Russia | Spartak | |
Johnson, Shenise | Hungary | Sopron | |
Morrison, Ziomara | Spain | Rivas Ecopolis | |
Robinson, Danielle | Turkey | Tarsus | |
Young, Sophia | China | Beijing Great Wall | |
![]() Seattle |
Abrosimova, Svetlana | Russia | Dynamo Moscow |
Bird, Sue | Russia | UMMC | |
Clark, Alysha | Israel | Ramat Hasharon | |
Jackson, Lauren | Australia | Canberra Capitols | |
Kobryn, Ewelina | Russia | UMMC | |
Little, Camille | China | Shanghai Octopus | |
Stricklen, Shekinna | Turkey | Antakya | |
Wauters, Ann | Turkey | Galatasary | |
![]() Tulsa |
Black, Chante | Turkey | Samsun |
Cambage, Liz | China | Zhejiang | |
Hodges, Roneeka | Spain | Perfumerias Avenidas | |
Johnson, Glory | Russia | Chekavata | |
Johnson, Temeka | Russia | Dynamo Kursk | |
Paris, Courtney | Turkey | Botas | |
Pedersen, Kayla | Turkey | Ceyhan | |
![]() Washington |
Castro Marques, Iziane | Brazil | Maranhao |
Currie, Monique | Romania | Targoviste | |
Langhorne, Crystal | Russia | Dynamo Moscow | |
Novosel, Natalie | Romania | Targoviste | |
Snow, Michelle | Russia | Dynamo Kursk | |
Thomas, Jasmine | Russia | Chekavata |