'Zero interest': Liz Cambage bombshell leaves Opals career in tatters
Basketball superstar Liz Cambage may have played her last game for Australia after a bombshell claim on social media that she has "zero" interest in being part of the Opals' World Cup campaign.
Fairfax reported on Saturday night that the WNBA star would be left out of the Opals' preliminary 24-player World Cup squad, which is set to be announced on Monday.
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On Sunday, Cambage shared part of an email from Basketball Australia (BA) asking for her to "respectfully" confirm or deny whether she was interested in being part of Australia's World Cup journey.
The email went on to say that if Cambage was "not interested in that journey and the commitment required by all squad members", they would appreciate being notified by the Las Vegas Aces star.
In an explosive response on her Instagram story, Cambage posted: "Do you ever get sick of lying on my name? My interest was and still is ZERO."
The 30-year-old's brutal message would appear to all but end her chances of representing Australia again.
Cambage recently escaped a fine or suspension despite an independent review finding the Opals and WNBA star engaged in conduct that brought BA into censure.
The independent panel issued Cambage with a formal reprimand for the matter which arose from an on-court incident in an Olympic warm-up match against Nigeria in Las Vegas.
A BA investigation prompted the independent review.
After a hearing held in November, the panel found her guilty of one charge but dismissed charges in relation to three other alleged incidents, BA announced.
It said neither BA nor Cambage intends to appeal the decision.
"The panel, after examination of the evidence before it, determined that Elizabeth Cambage did engage in conduct that brought Basketball Australia into censure in relation to one of the incidents charged," the Basketball Australia statement read.
Cambage pulled out of Australia's Tokyo campaign in the days after the Nigeria practice match due to mental health concerns, revealing she'd been having panic attacks about going into the Games bubble.
The low-grade penalty meant the 30-year-old was eligible to feature in next year's FIBA Women's World Cup in Sydney - set to get underway in September.
That prospect now appears almost unthinkable.
The World No.2-ranked Opals struggled after Cambage's late Olympic Games withdrawal as they were bounced out at the quarter-final stage in Tokyo.
Cambage completed the WNBA season with the Las Vegas Aces after the Olympics.
Liz Cabbage confirms OnlyFans move
Cambage recently became one of the latest Aussie athletes to join the adult subscription site, OnlyFans.
The 30-year-old has spoken candidly in the past about 'celebrating my sexuality', having done photoshoots for Playboy and ESPN's 'Body Issue' in recent years.
As recently as April this year, Cambage joked about joining the platform while on an Instagram Live interview with prominent NBA trainer Chris Johnson.
“The amount of money I could be making off OnlyFans is crazy,” she quipped.
“It would need to be called something else though.
“If I was going to do something like that, like sell members only content, I’d build my own base. Why not?”
Speaking after posing for Playboy in September last year, Cambage said it had always been somewhat of a struggle to embrace her body in a world that largely expected her to just play basketball and little else.
She said it was important to acknowledge that sex and sexuality was a normal part of human life.
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