Liz Cambage earns devoted US fanbase after season of points, freedom and memes

The impact that Liz Cambage made in the 2018 WNBA season can be measured in an infinite number of ways on the court. But it is the impact that America had on Cambage, the sense of emotional release and freedom that came with her return to the United States after five years out of the league, that augurs best for a long-term commitment between the Australian and her adopted country.

“Early on in the season, I was in New York and I visited with a friend of mine,” Cambage tells the Guardian after the Dallas Wings’ season came to an end. “And she’s a model, a black model from Australia. She really struggles to get work in Australia and coming over here, she’s got major campaigns and is really being embraced by this country. I was hoping for the same thing.”

Without question, it has happened. Cambage finished with the highest player efficiency rating in the league – 30.7, 13^th best of any single season in league history, and ahead of other most valuable player candidates like Breanna Stewart and Elena Delle Donne.

And yet, it was off-the-court moments that seemed to resonate most this season for Cambage, whose outspoken manner and willingness to be herself in every moment earned her a devoted fanbase that extended far beyond the Dallas observers.

There was her instantly meme-worthy decision to file her nails on the Wings bench. There were her unforgettable reaction shots to the decisions of referees, many of whom never quite figured out how to properly officiate someone so big, so dominant – at 6ft 8in and 98kg (15st 6lb), Cambage towered over virtually everyone and outmuscled even fellow bigs like Sylvia Fowles and Brittney Griner.

And Cambage took to social media, Twitter and Instagram, to narrate it all herself along with her fans. She understood the role played in cementing a bond between her new fanbase and herself, a key part of her decision-making as she weighs a return to the US in 2019.

“Yeah, definitely,” Cambage says. “I think me telling my story has really let people understand me more and connect with me more. I’m grateful for having the platform where I can tell my story and people are willing to listen. It means a lot. People do connect with me and will talk to me and I’m just trying to be a good role model and be a person that helps people become the person they’d want to be and live a life with no judgment.”

That sharing allowed Cambage’s fans to follow her on what turned out to be a roller coaster of a season in Dallas, a city she says she preferred to her previous WNBA destination in Tulsa because “there were a few more Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s here”.

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After a 14-9 start that put the Wings into title contention, and Cambage into the record books with a 53-point performance against the New York Liberty – the most points anyone has ever scored in a single WNBA game – Dallas suffered a nine-game losing streak. The coach who helped recruit Cambage, Fred Williams, was fired following an altercation with Wings executive Greg Bibb.

What followed was a final week of the regular season that began with Cambage wondering aloud if the WNBA’s low salaries, lack of private travel and other factors meant her return to the US would be a one-year detour. The Melbourne product said she missed her family.

The week ended with Cambage scoring 43 points to lift her Wings into the playoffs, hugs and tears on the court, and after a first-round loss to her longtime national team coach, Sandy Brondello, who also coaches the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury, a seeming re-dedication to the Dallas Wings.

“[It’s] been an emotional couple of weeks, you know, and I’m not ready to leave,” Cambage says, noting that she was remaining in Dallas all week. “’I’m sad about how it ended. I really enjoyed my time here in Dallas and I’m very grateful to have gotten the opportunity to play with such a great group of people.”

There’s no rest for Cambage, though. She will join the Australian team alongside her Dallas teammate Cayla George, Phoenix’s Stephanie Talbot, New York’s Rebecca Allen and young stars like Ezi Magbegor in next month’s Fiba World Cup.

“I think Stephanie Talbot is really coming into herself at the moment,” Cambage says. “You know, she had a great game against us. She really came alive in that playoff game. I’m just really excited to be playing with Jenna O’Hea again, she’s one of my closest friends off the court and someone who brings out the best of me on the court. So yeah, I really look forward to that.”

Then it’s off to China for their winter league, before what all of America hopes is a return to Dallas. She said she has no plans to weigh in on the Wings’ coaching search, even with fellow Australian and Wings assistant Erin Phillips considered a prime candidate. But with a 2019 contract already signed, Cambage’s adopted nation holds its breath that they’ll get at least a little more of the biggest star the WNBA has seen in quite some time.