JO LEEDHAM IS WNBA-BOUND
Great Britain international Jo Leedham is finally heading for the WNBA after agreeing a deal to go to training camp with the Connecticut Sun but the move could prove a headache for the national side.
The Cheshire-born guard, currently playing for French side Bourges, was originally drafted by the team in 2010 with the 27th overall pick.
Injuries have hampered Leedham in recent years but she rebounded to average 16.2 points at last year’s Olympics following a season with Australia’s Bulleen Bombers.
And she is set to become the second-Brit ever to feature in the Stateside league when their new campaign begins in May if she makes the final roster.
“It’s been a few years since we drafted her, so we are excited to see what she can bring to our team,†Sun vice-president and General Manager Chris Sienko said.
Euro loss, funding problem?
It means Leedham’s status for Britain’s EuroBasket Women campaign will remain unclear. According to multiple reports, she will likely skip the tournament if the Sun offer her a deal for the season.
That, in turn, could present a major problem for British Basketball.
MVP has learnt that one of the key factors in UK Sport’s initial decision to remove funding from Great Britain’s national team programme was a perceived lack of commitment from leading players, a slight fuelled by the farcical pursuit of NBA duo Ben Gordon and Byron Mullens ahead of the London Olympics.
With Luol Deng revealing his intention to pass on the men’s EuroBasket in September to rest up after a gruelling campaign with the Chicago Bulls, a similar withdrawal by Leedham would give the government agency more cause to withdraw their backing when their initial one-year support package comes to an end.
Do you like our work?
We have a tiny favour to ask. In 2018 we set out to make Hoopsfix sustainable by building our relationship directly with our readers. Up until now, Hoopsfix has been creating editorials, videos and podcasts to provide sorely missing coverage of the British game and its distinct culture and community.
We have funded Hoopsfix with our freelance work creating basketball media, but sadly that means not only does it fall behind our client’s priorities, but some of those clients are the same organisations we need to report objectively on putting us in a conflicted position.
We want to devote more time to our mission of helping British basketball reach its potential, and produce even more content for the basketball community by making Hoopsfix a sustainable 100% independent business funded directly by our readers through Patreon.
If everyone who enjoys our content chose to support us, our future would be much more secure. For as little as $3 per month, you can support Hoopsfix – and it only takes a minute.
We are tremendously honoured and humbled to have a community of people who value what we do, and we look forward to being at the forefront of the British game as it continues to evolve.
0 comments