Liz Cambage will never play for Australia again as coach suspends her from team for being ‘work too hard’ after alleged ‘monkey’ slur on basketball
The door has been slammed on disgraced Australian basketball player Liz Cambage who will one day play for her country again.
Controversy has courted the towering center since her international debut in 2008 and Opals head coach Sandy Brondello said there will now be no second chance.
The Australian Opals fell out of the Tokyo Olympics in the quarterfinals after a bitter rift erupted between the players and Cambage over alleged racist remarks she made to Nigerian players in an exhibition match.
With the Opals looking to qualify for the Paris Games, the question has arisen whether the lost child Cambage would be welcomed back into the fold.
Brondello’s response was blunt.
“No, it’s our decision,” she said News Corp.
Cambage made her international debut for the Opals in 2008 but will not be part of the team’s qualification process for the Paris Olympics
Opals head coach Sandy Brondello said culture is important and there will be more second chances for Cambage in the Aussie squad
Cambage now plays in Israel after being punted out of both the Australian Opals and the Los Angeles Sparks in the WNBA
‘In the Opals programme, you have to fit into the culture we had. Liz did some great things for the Opals, but it was too hard work towards the end, and we don’t need that. We have a short time together and one player cannot dominate the team.
“It’s all about the culture. We spend a lot of time on culture and if you can’t buy the culture, I won’t choose you. It’s that simple.’
Cambage left the national program in disgrace ahead of the Tokyo Olympics after an incident in which she reportedly called Nigerian players “monkeys” and told them to “go back to your third world country.”
Fellow Opal Ezi Magbegor is of Nigerian descent and Cambage’s alleged comments during the 2021 exhibition game have broken her relationship with teammates.
Cambage would eventually retire before the Olympics began and former Opals captain Jenna O’Hea said she would never be welcome again.
Cambage, pictured playing against Opals teammate Ezi Magbegor in a WNBA game, caused friction with her alleged conduct against Nigeria in a 2021 exhibition game
Former Opals captain Jenna O’Hea had also previously said Cambage would no longer be welcome in the Australian squad
Cambage divides her time between playing basketball, DJing and modeling, including for her OnlyFans account
Speaking on ABC show Offenders in May, host Kelli Underwood asked O’Hea about Cambage’s conduct in that battle with Nigeria.
“It all started in that training game, or in the pre-Olympics game, when you played Nigeria,” Underwood said.
“And it never really came out what happened but I got it confirmed from a few sources is it true you played Nigeria and Liz Cambidge had her feathers ruffled and she turned to them and said “Go back to your third world country”.
“And of course Ezi Magbegor is Nigerian by birth and a Nigerian now living in Australia and playing for your team, and a brawl broke out as a result and you haven’t spoken to her since?”
O’Hea replied, “That’s all 100 percent correct.”
Fellow guest Caroline Wilson then asked O’Hea if Cambage would ever represent the Opals again.
“No,” O’Hea replied.
Cambage sidelined both her national and WNBA teammates with her alleged remarks against Nigerian players in Tokyo
Cambage was also fired from WNBA side LA Sparks in July 2022, despite trying to claim she quit after a locker room outburst at teammates.
It came after Nigerian-American teammate Chimey Ogwumike rolled her eyes at Cambage during a press conference following the comments she allegedly made to Nigerian players in Tokyo.
‘I can not do this anymore. Good luck to you,” she said, according to sources.
However, the club quickly set the record straight.
“It is with support that we share Liz Cambage’s decision to terminate her contract with the organization,” Sparks Managing Partner Eric Holoman said in a statement.
“We want the best for Liz and have agreed to part amicably. The Sparks remain excited about our core group and focused on our run to a playoff berth in 2022.
Cambage signed with Israeli State Cup holder Maccabi Bnot Ashdod in March this year in the professional Israeli Female Basketball Premier League, also known as Ligat ha’Al.
The squad includes former WNBA players Natisha Hiedeman, Shatori Walker-Kimbrough, Amanda Zoe and Kalani Brown.