The new WNBA CBA introduced Section 9 of Article XIV entitled WNBA Prioritization and 2023 is the first season in which any of its provisions apply. As a result, many people are wondering about the exact impacts that this new provision will have on players, especially as the rules get stricter next season. This page will attempt to keep an updated record of players who would fall under WNBA punishment due to this section. We will interpret the rules as best as we can given the wording in the CBA and it is possible that the WNBA will apply the rules differently than listed here.
Many WNBA players do not fall under the category of players where this section applies. Those who finished the last season with 0,1, or 2 years of service are not affected. Previous WNBA indicators of years of service have not always provided matching numbers to the count that would result from the most literal application of the rules surrounding their calculation as detailed in the CBA. For any players who could be borderline in either direction, we will include them and an explanation of their situation.
Players subject to the second set of punishments, suspension for the whole season or being rendered ineligible to sign for this season, are being updated below. We will be very cautious with adding players to the tracker, not including players who are in practice or training with some other entity and only adding them once they verifiably dress for an exhibition or competitive game. It is a daunting task to try to keep up with every single organized basketball team in the world. If you are aware of any players who should be listed here, please let us know in the comments.
Updated 8/6
| Player | Offseason-Playing Obligation Team |
| Emma Meesseman | National Team of Belgium (outside of prioritization-compliant window) |
| Danielle Adams | Adelitas de Chihuahua (Mexico) |
| Leilani Mitchell | Inner West Bulls (Australia) |
| Kennedy Burke | Villeneuve-d’Ascq (France) |
| Blake Dietrick | Lyon (France) |
| Sandrine Gruda | Lyon (France) |
| Alexis Jones | Fuerza Regia Monterrey (Mexico) |
| Lynetta Kizer | Rojas de Veracruz (Mexico) |
| Damiris Dantas | Fuerza Regia Monterrey (Mexico) |
| Marie Gulich | National Team of Germany (outside of prioritization-compliant window) |
| Erika de Souza | Sampaio (Brazil) |
| Jazmine Jones | Plateras de Fresnillo (Mexico) |
| Kayla Alexander | National Team of Canada (outside of prioritization-compliant window) |
| Ramu Tokashiki | National Team of Japan (outside of prioritization-compliant window) |
| Park JiSu | National Team of South Korea (outside of prioritization-compliant window) |
| Alexis Prince | Astros de Jalisco (Mexico) |
| Kaila Charles | Fuerza Regia Monterrey (Mexico) |
| Reshanda Gray | Libertadores de Queretaro (Mexico) |
| Cierra Burdick | 3×3 National Team of the USA (outside of prioritization-compliant window) |
| Haley Peters | Adelitas de Chihuahua (Mexico) |
| Imani McGee-Stafford | Astros de Jalisco (Mexico) |
| Amber Holt | Atlanta Angels (WABA) |
| Adut Bulgak | Halcones de Xalapa (Mexico) |
| Erlana Larkins | Raleigh Red Storm (WABA) |
Unusual Cases
Gabby Williams: Williams was one of the few players subject to prioritization who had WNBA interest who signed a contract in a league with a schedule that was not prioritization-compliant when she signed with Lyon in France. As the playoffs started and there seemed to be a possibility that her team would not reach the championship, there was more and more reporting about a path for her to sign and play this season once available, which only got louder as she suffered and injury. Her team ended up reaching the finals and she played in Game 1, but the stories continued. Just before the game that would leave her in clear violation of prioritization rules, it was announced that she would not play and then subsequent reporting had her successfully terminating her contract before Friday, which would keep her eligible to sign in the WNBA. It was not immediately clear whether there were any other obstacles or steps involved in the process of clearing her to sign.
Marine Johannes: The WNBA does not usually publicly release information about the number of years of service that a player has accumulated, but they did actually did for this season’s free agency. In that list, they unexpectedly put 3 years as the total for Marine Johannes. Our initial argument would be that Johannes should only be attributed 1 year of service according to the CBA, but 2 seems to be a fair consensus. Our position is that 2022 obviously counts and the league could reasonably also award a year of service for 2020 given that players who opted out of the season later in the process seem to have been granted a year of service. It seems more likely that her actual other year of service was 2019, but a very clear reading of the CBA would give room to her or her team to argue that the year should not count. She signed before the season, but did not show up at the start of the season and was suspended until her arrival in July. That seems to very clearly fall under the definition of her withholding service from the team for 21 days to start the season, language used in the CBA. Either way, it is pretty clear that the league and the New York Liberty both consider her to not have enough service time to fall under the rules of prioritization this year as she finished her season with Lyon in France so the particulars of her career will likely not face more scrutiny until next season.
Temi Fagbenle: This is another case of a player who would have an argument against falling under prioritization. Fagbenle has played in 3 seasons, but did not report to the Lynx until after the 2019 EuroBasket tournament so she could claim withholding service for 21 days in her final season. EuroBasket is also being contested this year and she is currently training with the Great Britain national team so if she was subject to prioritization, she would have had to avoid making it clear that she was actually with the team prior to June 1st, which was the date of their first exhibition, in order to sign this season with Indiana, which holds her rights still. That date falls within the prioritization window, which is two weeks before the 15th. Based on that rule, the relevant dates this year are June 12th for the 8 teams in Division A in Asia, June 17th for the 10 teams in the Americas, July 14th for the teams that reach AfroBasket with the same two weeks allowed for any players on teams still in qualifying for the event, and July 30th for teams in Division B in Asia. The 3×3 World Cup started less than 14 days before the 1st game of the WNBA season so players would have been allowed to miss any time related to it.
Cierra Burdick: 3×3 Basketball was not specifically dealt with the CBA so there is room to argue about whether or not it counts as basketball, affecting how it would be handled if players either leave for it during the season or participate in it while not under contract. Assuming that it is considered basketball, there are some further specifics related to the CBA language. Here is the text of the national team section: “to participate with their national team in (including no more than two weeks of training immediately prior to) the FIBA World Cup or a FIBA continental championship (e.g., the European Championship).” It would make sense to extend those examples to their 3×3 equivalents, but the text makes no mention of qualification for those continental or world level events. On the 3×3 front, there are qualifying tournaments for events, but every single competitive event actually contributes to rankings that could lead to qualification and individual eligibility so players could argue that participating in 3×3 should always be exempted. Burdick was added to the list above due to her participation in the team that USA Basketball fielded in a Women’s Series event in Poitiers, France on June 27th, a competition that involved both national and club teams.
Han Xu: To be clear, Han is not subject to prioritization or the recent transaction involving her would have read much differently. She has 2 years of service from playing in 2019 and 2022. The wiggle room comes in 2020 when virus restrictions in China prevented her from leaving the country, which would seem fair to treat differently than players who opted out of the season for non-medical reasons. In this case, it may have been in her interest to wait longer for the team to make a decision as by late May there was still plenty of uncertainty about how the league would handle the season. All of this does give an opportunity to discuss the In-Season Departures section of the prioritization rules. In this case, Han is leaving to play for China at a non-FIBA event, which would lead to her suspension for both the rest of this season and leave her unable to play in 2024 if she were subject to these rules. Given how clear the in-season rules are, it seems unlikely that any player would ever intentionally run afoul of them. Tiffany Hayes left the Atlanta Dream to play for Azerbaijan at a 3×3 event in 2022 before these rules took effect, but that would have resulted in punishment if it happened this year.
Our tracker for the first set of punishments is preserved below:
The first set of punishments is fines for players who are not able to make it to training camp in time at 1% of salary per day missed. For players who are not under contract at the start of training camp, they would still be subject to a fine after signing during training camp based on when they were available. Players who are under contract will have their fine percentage determined by the day that they actually report to camp. We will attempt to determine whether players who have completed their Offseason-Playing Obligation before training camp actually physically reported in time, but it is possible that the only way to actually find out is from any announced discipline.
It is a daunting task to try to keep up with every single organized basketball team in the world. If you are aware of any players who should be listed here, please let us know in the comments. We will err on the side of caution in terms of adding players, only doing so with non-contracted players who dress for a game during WNBA training camp. That means that some players who play on the Saturday before camp opens will not be added until their next game.
Updated 5/16
The following players who are under contract are subject to a fine based on the number of days of training camp that they miss:
| Player | Offseason-Playing Obligation Team |
| Marina Mabrey | Schio (Italy) |
| Cheyenne Parker | Virtus Bologna (Italy) |
| Bridget Carleton | Avenida (Spain) |
The following players who are not under contract would be subject to a fine if they signed a contract:
| Player | Offseason-Playing Obligation Team | Last Day Played |
| Markeisha Gatling | Zaragoza (Spain) | April 30th |
| Cierra Burdick | Valencia (Spain) | May 7th |
| Marie Gulich | Valencia (Spain) | May 7th |
| Kayla Alexander | Bourges (France) | May 13th |
| Kiara Leslie | Charleville-Mezieres (France) | May 6th |
| Kristen Mann | Landes (France) | May 6th |
| Haley Peters | Lattes Montpellier (France) | May 13th |
| Blake Dietrick | Lyon (France) | Ongoing |
| Sandrine Gruda | Lyon (France) | Ongoing |
| Gabby Williams | Lyon (France) | Ongoing |
| Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis | Roche (France) | May 6th |
| Kennedy Burke | Villeneuve-d’Ascq (France) | Ongoing |
| Asia Taylor | Landerneau (France) | May 16th |
| Adut Bulgak | Toulouse (France) | May 16th |
| Alexis Prince | Avenida (Spain) | May 7th |
| Alexis Jones | Fuerza Regia Monterrey (Mexico) | Ongoing |
| Lynetta Kizer | Rojas de Veracruz (Mexico) | Ongoing |
| Leilani Mitchell | Inner West Bulls (Australia) | Ongoing |
| Danielle Adams | Adelitas de Chihuahua (Mexico) | Ongoing |
| Shay Murphy | Bucaros de Bucaramanga (Colombia) | Ongoing |
| Erika de Souza | Sampaio (Brazil) | Ongoing |
Women's Basketball News and Opinions 