Awa Fam on playing in FIBA World Cup
Callie Fin talks with Seattle Storm’s Awa Fam to discuss the upcoming FIBA World Cup.
Sports Seriously
Arguably the best women’s basketball player in the world will not be with Team USA as they try to win the FIBA Women’s World Cup for the fifth consecutive time.
Team USA announced on the morning of Monday, Aug. 31 that four-time WNBA MVP A’ja Wilson – who was also the MVP of the 2022 World Cup – will not join the team due to health reasons. Additionally, Kelsey Plum will also not play for Team USA in Germany due to health reasons.
Replacing Wilson and Plum on the roster are a pair of players from the Washington Mystics, Sonia Citron and Kiki Iriafen.
A news release from Team USA did not offer any further specifics on why Wilson and Plum were missing the World Cup. Head coach Kara Lawson is scheduled to speak to reporters via Zoom on Tuesday, Sept. 1.
Wilson – who is again having a season worthy of MVP consideration by averaging a league-leading 26 points per game – was recently listed as questionable for the Las Vegas Aces with a back issue, but played on Friday against the Toronto Tempo. She collected 27 points, eight rebounds and two blocks in that win. Wilson also battled a leg injury earlier this season which sidelined her for the Commissioner’s Cup championship.
Meanwhile, Plum has been ruled out for the remainder of the WNBA season with a lower leg injury. The 32-year-old – who has helped Team USA win a pair of World Cups – was traded just before the WNBA’s deadline from the Los Angeles Sparks to the Phoenix Mercury, but that injury held her to appear in just five games for the Mercury.
In a post on her Instagram account, Plum wrote: “I did everything I could to be back on the court, but just ran out of time… The decision has been made to shut it down through remainder of the season and focus on getting my body back to 100%.”
Along with Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese, Paige Bueckers, Rhyne Howard and Aliyah Boston, this FIBA World Cup will be the first time Citron and Iriafen have featured for the senior U.S. national team in a major tournament. Both players, who are in their second professional seasons in the WNBA, are having stellar years as they’ve led the Mystics to a playoff berth.
Iriafen, who played her college ball at Stanford and USC, is fourth in the league in rebounding this season with 9.4 boards per game. The 6-foot-3 forward from California is also averaging 15.3 points and 1.6 assists per game for the Mystics while shooting 50.8% from the floor. Iriafen previously played for the Americans in March in the World Cup qualifying tournament in Puerto Rico.
Citron last appeared with Team USA during Lawson’s first camp as head coach, held at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina last December. Like Iriafen, Citron has also made the All-Star team in each of her two WNBA seasons. This year, the 6-foot-1 guard from White Plains, New York is averaging 16.8 points, 3.7 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game while shooting 47.5% from the floor and 87.2% from the free throw line. Lawson knows Citron’s game well after coaching against the Notre Dame product for four years at Duke in ACC showdowns.
Team USA will begin play in the World Cup on Friday, Sept. 4 against China in the group stage. The game will air live on TNT at 8:15 a.m. ET