Former WNBA baller Liz Cambage is being called out on anti-Blackness after she denied an allegation of calling the Nigerian Women’s National Basketball team (D’Tigress) “monkeys” during an interview with The Bleacher Report August 7.
As old footage of an informal Pre-Tokyo Olympic basketball game between her former team, the Australian Opals, and the Nigerian team recirculated, more light has been shed on the incident following Cambage’s interview with Taylor Rook. Cambage, who now plays ball in Israel, spoke about what happened at the 2021 scrimmage, where she got molly whopped by Nigerian baller Victoria Macaulay.
Rook got right to the point, asking the 6’9 woman about her allegedly calling the women “monkeys” and telling them to “go back to their third-world country.”
While the host tried to clear up the discrepancy, Cambage relegated the outrage to women not liking her.
“A lot of girls don’t like me. And a lot of times, I say ‘no’ to something, and people really wanna make me look like the issue.”
Seemingly deflecting the direct question, the mega-sized baller chalked her experiences up to people not allowing her to live her truth. The London-born athlete, who is half Nigerian and half Australian, began to whine about the pressures of a failing relationship, the Olympics and being injured.
But what does any of that have to do with the question, Liz?
Rook, brilliantly, reeled Cambage back in, reiterating what she wanted to know by asking her what she meant by “girls not liking me.”
Cambage called herself “very pro-Black” and claimed she would never resort to racial slurs like “monkey,” but she could easily call another woman a “dumb bitch.”
Cambage also told Rook to look at the footage that would redeem the former WNBA player– but real talk— they made her look like a bully who got her ass handed to her.
But, hey… we’ll let you judge for yourself.
Cambage also claimed that if she was so racist, why would the Nigerian Women’s Basketball team be actively recruiting her? Ironically, when addressing the claims of being anti-Black– she never mentioned she was half-Nigerian.
She pulled her victim card, saying she faced an “assault.” The former LA Sparks player also expressed that people wanted to believe the worst about her.
Clutch Points on X, formerly known as Twitter, came through with the eight-minute video showing the 2021 incident leading up to Cambage getting her ass busted by Macaulay.
https://twitter.com/ClutchPoints/status/1689476944906358784
The video footage showed the former WNBA star towering over the Nigerian players. Cambage could be seen going back and forth in a heated verbal exchange with Nigerian team members. The burly woman even hit one in the face as she blocked a basket. The 31-year-old athlete allegedly didn’t so much as apologize or shake her opponent’s hand after pummeling her.
The scrimmage carried on, but shit hit the fan after Cambage swung from behind and hit Macaulay square in the face. The shook woman seemingly grimaced from the pain, holding her mouth and nose as the game continued. Again, it appeared like Cambage kept it moving after hitting Macaulay.
In a battle reminiscent of David and Goliath, the Nigerian 6’4 baller ran over to Cambage, who was on the sidelines, and socked her, folding the Naija-Aussie athlete.
Typically in basketball brawls, the players’ respective teammates pull up to defend their peers. While the Nigerian team supported Macauley, the Australian Opals seemingly left Cambage hanging retrospectively.
After the rock-em-sock-em robot punch, Cambage turned to a camera, asking, “Did you see that?”
Girl, everybody saw that.
X users agreed that Cambage deservedly got her ass beat.
Promise Amukamara, a Nigerian basketball player and ASU alumna, took to X to say that Cambage was lying.
Amukamara said that Cambage’s former team confirmed she wasn’t telling the truth.
Amukamara’s teammate, Sarah Ogoke, chimed in to clarify that Cambage was lying about using the racial slur and being recruited by the Nigerian basketball team.
In May 2022, former Australian Opals captain Jenna O’Hea backed up the D’Tigress’ claim of anti-Blackness on Cambage’s part. In an interview with ABC’s Offsiders, the retired baller shared with the show’s host that the claim was “one hundred percent correct.”
ESPN’s Colin Udoh posted a damning tweet regarding Cambage’s recruitment.
The Nigerian Basketball Federation Vice President, Babs Ogunade, stated that Cambage was never considered for the team. He did corroborate that she had only spoken with a former coach, and it wasn’t an option as nobody else entertained the thought.
Udoh did verify that Cambage eventually made her way to the locker room and apologized to the Nigerian players.
You can also read her statement after the video surfaced below.
What do y’all believe?
