Inside the harsh reality of the modern WNBA

• Quick Guide: List of Aussies in the WNBA in 2025
• How to watch every WNBA game in Australia in 2025
• WNBA adds three teams in historic expansion

The WNBA has a logjam of talent and while it was announced yesterday that the league will expand to 18 teams by 2030, as it stands today there are just 13 teams and 156 roster spots available, and the brutal side of chasing your WNBA dreams has hit home for a number of Australians this season.

In exciting news for WNBA fans, the league announced three more expansion teams will join the league from 2028; Cleveland in 2028, Detroit in 2029 and Philadelphia in 2030, on top of Toronto and Portland joining next season.

That is great news for players hoping to break into the WNBA, creating 60 more roster spots across the league.

Hopefully by 2030, they will also have larger roster sizes, as 12 just isn’t enough and we’ve seen that come into full focus this season as injury, fatigue and international commitments have taken a huge toll on teams. But that is a story for another day.

With 18 teams, obviously the talent will be diluted, but with the incredible rising stars coming through college and international pathways like the WNBL, I do think there is more than enough capacity to see an 18-team league flourish.

While all of that is in the future, those 60 extra roster spots provide little solace to players that are on the brink of the WNBA right now.

Australian forward Chloe Bibby has been on an absolute rollercoaster this season. After signing a training camp contract with the Golden State Valkyries, Bibby was waived a couple of days before the regular season after playing in both preseason games. A month later, she was re-signed by Golden State as Julie Vanloo and Temi Fagbenle left the team to participate in Eurobasket.

In her WNBA regular season debut, Bibby was electric as the Valkyries defeated the Indiana Fever, 88-77. Bibby played 24 minutes and finished with 12 points (4/9 FG) and 3 rebounds, showcasing her outside shooting with a pair of triples. A few days later, she again proved valuable for Golden State as they dominated Connecticut, 87-63, finishing with 11 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals in 20 minutes of action.

She would go onto play three more games over the following week, before being waived (again!) this week as Golden State had a roster crunch with their Eurobasket participants returning. It was a cruel end to a great couple of weeks for Bibby, who proved herself at the WNBA level.

As Bibby’s time in the WNBA is over for now — she could find herself back on a roster in the coming days/weeks – other Australians suffered the same fate after training camp.

Shyla Heal, Anneli Maley, Shaniece Swain and Ally Wilson all signed training camp deals across the league, but were unable to secure spots on opening night rosters, with Swain cruelly cut the day before the regular season began.

While Swain’s rookie campaign was over before it began, Heal’s rookie season in 2021 showcased the ruthless cut-throat nature of the league on another level. After being selected 8th overall in the 2021 WNBA Draft by the Chicago Sky, Heal was unable to participate in training camp due to visa application issues, but when she did eventually join the team, Heal played just four games and 31 minutes before being traded to the Dallas Wings, who then immediately waived her.

Just six weeks after being drafted in the first round, Heal was left without a team. It’s unbelievable to see teams give up on first round picks after such little time, but with so few roster spots available and obviously teams are in the business of winning, developing young talent isn’t necessarily at the top of team’s priorities.

It must be said Chicago did go on to win the 2021 WNBA Championship, so clearly things worked out for the Sky.

Joining Bec Cole on It’s A Cole World in April, Anneli Maley shared her unbelievable story from 2023 when she was ‘cut and un-cut four/five times in the space of two days’ by Chicago.

The WNBA truly is one of the toughest leagues in the world to break into, and then even tougher again to stay in.

For those players on the borderline, it really is a day-to-day and week-to-week proposition of whether you’re playing in the league or watching from the couch.