The Berliner wants to concentrate “increasingly on the WNBA season”.
Star player Satou Sabally lacks the German basketball players at this year’s European Championship with preliminary round games in Hamburg. The 27-year-old from the WNBA club Phoenix Mercury canceled her participation in the tournament, a corresponding report by the Big-Basketball magazine in Germany confirmed the German Basketball Bund (DBB) when asked about the SID.
According to Big, Sabally wants to concentrate “increasingly on the WNBA season” and therefore takes a break. The Berliner had gone to Phoenix in the spring after five years at the Dallas Wings, and the new season begins next week. The loss weighs heavily, Sabally gives the best German basketball player, she had a decisive part in the first qualification for the Olympic Games last year. In Paris, the DBB team took seventh place.
The cancellation is not only for national coach Lisa Thomaidis, but also for the home audience. The German women complete their European Championship preliminary round games against Sweden (June 19), Spain (20th) and Great Britain (21st) in the Inselpark Arena in Hamburg. The final round is held in Piraeus/Greece.
After several months of injury, Sabally had already dispensed with her participation in the European Championship 2023. At the time, the exceptional cloister played for a new contract in the United States. The next destination with the national team should be the 2026 World Cup in its hometown Berlin for Sabally.