Angel McCoughtry pushed back on a report earlier Monday at The Summitt reporting her intention to sit out the entirety of the 2017 WNBA season.
Earlier today,I was referring to the rumors that I had sign to Galatasary in turkey! I was not referring to anything about the WNBA
— McCoughtry (@angel_35) June 27, 2017
Once again, this article is totally untrue!Referring to rumors about my overseas play. Nothing to do with WNBA. pic.twitter.com/lorApNTr2c
— McCoughtry (@angel_35) June 27, 2017
Earlier Monday evening, both McCoughtry’s WNBA team and agent indicated that the Dream star planned to sit out the 2017 WNBA season.
Asked point blank on Twitter after her tweets above, “So is it still possible you’ll play in the WNBA in 2017?”, McCoughtry did not respond.
The tweet that started it all came earlier Monday evening.
“Let me clear these rumors up so I can be left alone and enjoy my summer,” McCoughtry wrote on Twitter Monday. “Everybody’s knows I’m signed to go back to Russia and that’s that!”
Let me clear these rumors up so I can be left alone and enjoy my summer. Everybody's knows I'm signed to go back to Russia and that's that!
— McCoughtry (@angel_35) June 26, 2017
It appeared that McCoughtry was referring to the chatter that followed the Dream cutting two players and signing only one Sunday night, though The Summitt reported Sunday that the roster spot would not be filled by McCoughtry. The Dream announced Monday they’d signed guard Darxia Morris.
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When asked if that read of McCoughtry’s tweet was accurate, a spokesperson for the Dream replied, “We do not expect her back. She posted on Twitter that she wants to enjoy her summer.”
If McCoughtry elects not to return to the Dream, who held out hope that it might happen, it would be a blow. Certainly, the addition of a six-time member of the all-WNBA first or second teams in her career, a multifaceted offensive and defensive player could have pulled the Dream out of the middling group currently hovering between third and tenth in the standings.
The hope was further amplified by McCoughtry not putting a timetable on how long she planned to step away from the Dream in 2017, and that when Candace Parker did something similar, she returned to the Los Angeles Sparks for their final 16 regular season games in 2015.
And though neither her team nor agent expect her to return, McCoughtry’s pushback on the idea that she has decided not to play in the WNBA in 2017 provides a sliver of hope for Michael Cooper and the Dream.