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Liz Cambage has dropped a basketball bombshell, revealing her plans to play for the Nigerian national team two years after an incident with the team that ended her career.
Cambage was famously dumped from Australia’s Tokyo Olympics campaign after allegedly telling Nigerian players to “go back to their third world country” during a scrimmage ahead of the 2021 Games.
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The 31-year-old has denied the allegations, despite numerous separate confirmations she made the comment — including from former Opals captain Jenna O’Hea.
Now Cambage has broken her silence, repeating her denial to the Bleacher Report and making the shocking revelation she is in talks to play for Nigeria.
Asked why multiple players and sources from both the Australian and Nigerian teams claimed she made the remark, Cambage said: “A lot of girls don’t like me.
“I don’t really lean towards racially backed insults.
“That’s not how I go.
“I’m very pro-Black. I did not say these things to these girls.
“Leak the tapes. I’ve never owned the tapes. Leak the tapes. Y’all want to see the truth, leak the tapes. Everyone in Australia that has seen the tapes, still lying about what is on these tapes, leak the tapes.
“I want it out there. Put it out there. I’ve never owned it. I didn’t even have it when everything happened. I couldn’t even protect myself with it. I had to get lawyers to get a tape with my own assault on it.”
Pressed on why her side of the story is in stark contrast to other accounts, Cambage said: “Because the truth looks a lot worse for other organisations involved, than using me as a scapegoat.
“Why does Nigeria want me to leave Australia and go and represent them?”
“We’re filing for me to leave the Australian team, so I can represent Nigeria.
“I’ve been in cahoots, I’ve been talking to them since all of this happened.
“This is what I mean, people don’t know the truth.”
But veteran Nigerian women’s basketballer Promise Amukamara appeared to shut down Cambage’s claims, tweeting: “I’m sorry but this is False. Lol.
“Literally everyone from both teams have the same story BUT her, so y’all do the math!”
Cambage is of Nigerian descent and would in theory be eligible to play for the country.
Australia’s Opals won bronze at last year’s FIBA Women’s World Cup without Cambage and coach Sandy Brondello has officially shut the door on her returning to the national side.
It would be a stunning development if Cambage does indeed suit up for Nigeria, given the history between her and the African nation.
“I have struggled a lot with the Australian team,” Cambage told Taylor Rooks on the Bleacher Report podcast.
“I’ve said it constantly. I’ve dealt with teammates with blackface, I’ve dealt with coaches lying, coaches pushing other athletes to talk badly about me in the media. There’s been a lot.
“I really hope Australia releases me and FIBA allows it because my fans miss me playing. I’d love to do another Olympics. Paris would be fab. There is nothing like an Olympic village, it is one of the most inspirational places ever.
“My last Olympics was hideous. Rio Olympics was horrible. Rio Olympics was one of the worst times of my life and that’s a reflection of the coaching staff and the team. I would love to start fresh with teammates that understand me, look like me, appreciate me and respect me. I have been talking with the Nigerian coach… he has my back.”
Cambage also claimed that she had not told Nigerian players to “go back to their third-world country” and instead had said different in light of her frustration about having to play in a Covid-affected Olympics.
“When this all happened a coach tried to be like, ‘You said this’, and I was like, ‘I didn’t say that’. I went to apologise to people (and said), ‘I don’t say these things. I don’t know if y’all are deaf but that’s not what I said’.
“I didn’t want these (Tokyo) Olympics to happen. I think I’d just been hit and I was on the bench drinking and I was like, ‘We should all go back to our f***ing countries. Like we should all go home’. I didn’t say anything third-world, I didn’t call anyone an animal, I didn’t call anyone the N-word.”
Cambage has not played a professional game of basketball since July 2022.
She hasn’t represented for Australia since the warm-up game incident before the 2021 Olympics and her WNBA career is effectively over after she walked out on the Los Angeles Sparks last year.
The decision came in the wake of an excruciating press conference in which two of her Sparks teammates appeared like they wanted to be anywhere else but next to the Australian.
In the press conference, sisters Nneka and Chiney Ogwumike — who are Nigerian — were seen squirming uncomfortably and even rolling their eyes as Cambage spoke about her return to the team from a bout of Covid.
Originally published as Liz Cambage plots shock move to play for Nigeria in basketball bombshell
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