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The Seattle Storm have emerged as one of the WNBA's contenders, and they strengthened their roster this past week with the signing of Olympics star Gabby Williams. But it wasn't always clear if Williams would play in the WNBA this season. During her first media availability since signing with the Storm, Gabby Williams criticized the WNBA's prioritization rule, as per The Sporting News, that could have kept her from playing in the league this year.
“I've said this before, it shouldn't be a blanket rule, I don't understand. I understand the want to have players here, and I think prioritization has to go hand in hand with the money we're making as well,” Williams said. “I think if a team can handle it, they can handle it. If not, don't sign European players or players that play in Europe. America is not the entire world. I know there's some people in a certain place that need to hear that.”
Gabby Williams was not affected by the WNBA's prioritization rule this season because she was a free agent and not on a team's roster at the start of the season. That's why she was able to come back and sign with the Storm following the Olympics.
Had Williams been on a team's roster though, she would not have been eligible to play in the WNBA this year. The WNBA's prioritization rule took effect last season as part of the new CBA in 2020. The overall gist of the rule is that all players with more than two years of WNBA experience must report to training camp by a certain deadline to be eligible to play in the upcoming season.
Many WNBA players play overseas in the offseason in order to supplement their income. Many overseas leagues pay players more lucratively than the WNBA. Some of those leagues run into the start of the WNBA season and in years past players would sometimes join their WNBA team after their overseas league finished play.
Gabby Williams strengthens a contender in the Storm
While prioritization will no doubt be a major talking point moving forward, in the immediate future, Gabby Williams strengthens an already strong Storm roster. The Storm transformed themselves into contenders this offseason with the free agent signings of Nneka Ogwumike and Skylar Diggins-Smith.
While they got off to an uneven start, they've since turned things around and have become one of the better teams in the WNBA. Williams originally joined the Storm in 2022 after she was traded by the Los Angeles Sparks without ever suiting up for the Sparks. She also played for the Storm last season following the conclusion of her overseas league.
Across two seasons with the Storm, Williams averaged 7.7 points, 4.7 rebounds, 3.2 rebounds and 1.5 steals with splits of 42.1 percent shooting from the field, 24.7 percent shooting from the three-point line and 79.3 percent shooting from the free-throw line.
Williams made international headlines earlier this month when she helped lead France to the gold medal game against Team USA in the Olympics. She drilled a buzzer-beating shot at the end of the game that would have sent the game overtime if not for her foot behind on the line and the shot being ruled a two.
