Liz Cambage Insists She Didn’t Utter Racist Slurs In The 2021 Confrontation

After hearing of a physical and verbal fight during a scrimmage against Nigeria, Liz Cambage withdrew from the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 more than two years ago. On Monday, she refuted claims that she had referred to Nigerian players as “monkeys” and said she would want to play with them during the 2018 Olympics in Paris.

Liz Cambage highlighted her battle with depression in a one-on-one conversation with Bleacher Report’s Taylor Rooks. The interview took place close to the Tokyo Olympics. She said that her teammates and other staff members disapproved of her since she wasn’t excited to compete in the Olympic Games affected by COVID.

The former WNBA star was also accused of encouraging Nigerian players to return to their third-world nation while she played for Australia at the time of the allegations.

When Rooks questioned Cambage about why she had been wrongfully accused of uttering racist insults, Cambage said, “A lot of girls don’t like me.” “I don’t really lean towards racially motivated insults. That’s not how I go. I’m very pro-Black. I did not say this to these girls.”

Later, Liz Cambage explained that she had once declared, “We should all go back to our countries,” since she had been so unhappy with her time in Tokyo. In addition, she asserted that a video of the game would prove she didn’t utter any racial insults.

Three days after the argument, she issued a statement, claiming mental health issues, panic attacks, and the “terrifying” thought of entering a bubble.

She compared the experience to 2016, the year of the Olympics, which she claimed was the worst for her mental health ever. Three years later, she opened up about her battle with depression in a piece for the Players’ Tribune.

The 31-year-old, whose father is from Nigeria, appeared to drop some significant basketball-related news during the conversation.

“Why does Nigeria want me to leave Australia and go 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 with them since all of this happened.”

Liz Cambage

Promise Amukamara, a member of the Nigeria women’s basketball team, responded to Cambage’s assertion shortly after it was captured on camera and disseminated on social media.

She tweeted, “I’m sorry but this is False.” 

In a series of later tweets, Amukamara claimed that Cambage referred to the Nigerian team’s players as “monkeys” and ordered them to return home. “The only person she has been in “cahoots” with was the former coach of our National team, and he’s no longer the coach, so there’s that!”

After a midseason “contract divorce” with the Los Angeles Sparks, Cambage announced that she was leaving the WNBA in 2022. She formerly worked for the Las Vegas Aces for three years. Due to COVID-19, she missed 2020 but participated in 2019 and 2021.

The four-time All-Star admitted to Rooks that she never wanted to play in the WNBA and felt unpopular since she “knew [her] worth” from her experience playing abroad. China, Australia, and New Zealand are a few of her overseas trips. According to a March story in The Athletic, Cambage officially signed with Maccabi Bnot Ashdod in Israel.

She was chosen with the Tulsa Shock‘s (now the Dallas Wings franchise) second overall choice in the 2011 WNBA Draft, and throughout her career, she grew increasingly outspoken about issues with the WNBA’s CBA and other matters.

Cambage expressed optimism about her future with the Nigerian squad as she concluded her chat with Rooks.

“I really hope it happens because I want to go to another Olympics.”

“And I really respect those girlies. [The situation] does upset me, because I love being Black.” 

She wears her African origin “with pride now,” she said, adding that as a child in Australia, she sought to integrate with whites.

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