Gabby Williams and the Growing Shift in WNBA Player Priorities
If you’ve been paying attention to the 2025 WNBA season, one name that’s lighting up the headlines right now is Gabby Williams. The French-American forward for the Seattle Storm is having a phenomenal year, arguably her best since she entered the league. She’s not just contributing — she’s leading, with career highs in points, assists, and rebounds. Her shooting from beyond the arc? That’s up more than 20 percent from last season, which is a massive leap in a league where spacing and shooting matter more than ever.
But what’s most intriguing isn’t just what Williams is doing on the court — it’s why she’s still here at all. Traditionally, international WNBA players like Williams would be packing their bags in June to compete in FIBA tournaments like EuroBasket. These continental championships are crucial qualifiers for the Olympics and carry heavy national pride. For years, it was a given that international players would leave midseason — no matter how well their WNBA campaigns were going — to represent their home countries.
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That’s starting to change, and Williams is at the heart of it.
In 2025, players like Williams, Satou Sabally, and Marine Johannès made the difficult choice to stay with their WNBA teams instead of heading overseas for EuroBasket. It’s not that national pride has faded — it’s just that players are reasserting control over their own careers. Williams herself experienced how unforgiving the WNBA system could be when she was suspended by the Chicago Sky in 2021 for choosing to stay in France to prepare for the Tokyo Olympics. At the time, she said it plainly: “You’re asking me to sacrifice this for that — but you don’t even make me feel important here.”
That moment was pivotal, not just for Williams, but for how WNBA players began to see their worth and their agency.
Now in 2025, with a new collective bargaining agreement on the horizon promising better pay and conditions, players are recognizing that staying in the WNBA isn’t just about loyalty — it’s also about self-preservation and long-term career growth. They’re choosing stability, mental health, better pay, and a chance to build their legacies in the most competitive women’s basketball league in the world.
Sure, some federations like France and Belgium are still clinging to old expectations, and some players still face personal pressure to represent their countries. But there’s a visible cultural shift happening. Coaches, agents, and even fans are beginning to understand that being present for the full WNBA season isn’t a betrayal of national pride — it’s a bold assertion of professional value.
Gabby Williams didn’t just decide to stay. She’s thriving because of it. And her story symbolizes something much bigger than one standout season — it’s the emergence of a new era where international WNBA stars are no longer forced to choose between playing for pride and playing for progress.
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