Aces Star Liz Cambage Withdraws From Olympics to Focus on Mental Health
Aces star center Liz Cambage has withdrawn from the Tokyo Olympics and will not play for Team Australia to "take care of myself mentally and physically," she wrote in a statement Friday.
"Anyone that knows me knows one of my biggest dreams is winning an Olympic gold medal with the Opals. Every athlete competing in the Olympic games should be at their mental and physical peak, and at the moment," Cambage wrote. "I'm a long way from where I want and need to be."
The four-time WNBA All-Star wrote that recently she has been "really worried" about heading into a "bubble" Olympics, saying that "it's honestly terrifying" for her and that over the past month she has been having panic attacks, not sleeping and not eating.
"Relying on daily medication to control my anxiety is not the place I want to be right now. Especially walking into competition on the world's biggest sporting stage.
"I know myself, and I know I can't be the Liz everyone deserves to see compete for the Opals. Not right now at least. I need to take care of myself mentally and physically."
News of Cambage withdrawing also comes as the Opals were discussing her future with the program in the wake of an incident during an exhibition game.
During a closed-door scrimmage against Nigeria, Cambage was involved in a physical altercation as well as a charged verbal exchange, according to ESPN's Olgun Uluc. Per ESPN, it is also possible she broke team protocols to go out in Las Vegas.
Australia's women's basketball team has been in Las Vegas for their pre-Olympic training camp.
Even without Cambage, Team Australia still has plenty of WNBA talent, including Storm center Ezi Magbegor, Liberty forward Rebecca Allen and Mystics guard Leilani Mitchell.
They will take on Team USA in an exhibition on Friday afternoon. Tipoff is set for 2:30 p.m. ET.
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