The USA Basketball senior women’s national team camp got underway Monday in Annapolis, Md., with 17 of the 27 players invited.
Six players are still participating in the WNBA finals that began on Sunday. At the same time, two previous gold medal-winning Olympians and league MVPs announced they were withdrawing from camp and would not be participating in the upcoming FIBA Women’s World Championships.
Tamika Catchings of the Indiana Fever posted a message on her Instagram account saying she was pulling out to recover from injuries. Catchings, who turned 35 in July, missed most of the first half of the WNBA season with a bad back.
Another former Tennessee standout, Candace Parker, is not in camp because of minor knee surgery, according to a USA Basketball release. Another player invited to the U.S. camp, guard Monica Wright of the Minnesota Lynx, also is having knee surgery and will not be participating.
Catchings has won three Olympic gold medals and Parker has two. They were among the 10 Olympians invited to camp.
The Phoenix Mercury blasted the Chicago Sky 83-62 Sunday in Game 1 of the WNBA finals, which continue Tuesday in Phoenix before shifting to Chicago later this week.
Each team in the finals has three USA invitees: Diana Taurasi, Candice Dupree and Brittney Griner of Phoenix, and Elena Delle Donne, Sylvia Fowles and Courtney Vandersloot of Chicago.
Delle Donne, who has triggered the Sky’s surprising run to the finals, played just 11 minutes in Sunday’s game due to an ailing back that has progressively bothered her during the playoffs. It’s possible that she may also withdraw from the USA camp.
The departures may give younger, lesser experienced players at the international level a chance to break into what USA Coach Geno Auriemma has labeled one of the deepest talent bases in the history of the program.
The USA squad will be training in Annapolis through Thursday, when it has an intersquad scrimmage at the University of Delaware. The team will play Canada in an exhibition game next Monday, Sept. 15, in Bridgeport, Conn., before heading to Europe.
The World Championships begin later this month in Turkey.
