Dallas Wings’ American center Teaira McCowan is chasing an EC medal in Turkey in June instead of playing in the WNBA. Dallas has won three of its first four games of the season.
Awak Kuierin the WNBA club represented has a special situation in June, when the star center of the team Teaira McCowan plays in the European Championships instead of the North American professional series.
McCowan represents Turkey, which he became a citizen of last September.
In basketball, the world’s best women play throughout the season in both Europe and North America. McCowan has played summers in the WNBA and the last two seasons in fall and spring in Turkey. Last season, he represented the Turkish club Galatasaray.
The phenomenon of Americans on other countries’ teams is familiar in both men’s and women’s basketball. There are plenty of examples. At the Men’s European Championships last fall, many playoff teams had American players who didn’t even know where their new home country was.
McCowan was introduced to the idea of applying for Turkish citizenship by his agent. He made his debut in the national team in November in the European Championship qualifiers. Turkey is now looking for an European Championship medal in June in Slovenia and Israel.
– When I got citizenship, I thought about what I would do now. I knew I had to finish now, McCowan said in a December interview with The Athletic.
Obtaining citizenship has many advantages. Players can participate in prestigious international tournaments, which they would not be able to do as Americans. The financial benefit is also considerable. When an American no longer takes up a place in the foreigner quota, he becomes even more desirable in that country. In Europe, the best players are paid better salaries than in the WNBA, and thus the players are also able to secure better tenets.
Dallas had a strong start to the season, but Kuieri’s responsibility fell short
The Dallas Wings have had a strong early season. It has won three of its first four matches, although the team has also had injury concerns. About the team Lou Lopez Senechal and Diamond DeShields have been on the sidelines for so long that Wings was able to get a new center with an exception Kalani Brown’s. He played almost 27 minutes in his opening game and scored 12 points as Dallas beat Minnesota.
Kuier took a big leap forward last season in Italy, but it hasn’t shown up in the WNBA, at least not yet. Last season, the responsibility was 12.6 minutes per match, while now it is 8.3 minutes per match.
In four games, Kuier has scored only one point overall. The Dallas Wings booked Kuieri in the second round of the WNBA draft in 2021. Before the start of the season, the Wings’ first-round pick Charlie Collier experienced a rude fate when he no longer fit into the team’s lineup for this season.
Like Collier, Kuier is known as a basket player, but the Finn is also known for his versatility and ability to play further away from the basket.
– Awak sometimes plays in the third position, the new coach of Dallas Wings Latricia Trammell stated before the start of the season to the local media.
– This season is a wonderful opportunity for Awak. I look forward to seeing how he responds to that.