International WNBA players often leave their teams during the regular season; why that's changing

EuroBasket is a biennial continental championship tournament sponsored by the International Basketball Federation that can qualify a national team’s entry into the next Olympics .

WNBA players with ties to countries like France , Germany , Belgium , and Italy would — and still do — leave their WNBA teams midseason to compete in a week-and-a-half-long tournament.

As of right now the WNBA has 162 rostered players, which includes players on hardship contracts.

Players like Satou and Nyara Johannès are committed to the WNBA this year .

The Mercury head coach Nate Tibbets says players would never leave to play for their national team in EuroBasket .

There is also personal pressure on players to leave their WNBA teams in order to strengthen their national teams.

The 2026 FIBA World Cup is set to take place in Germany from September 4 through September 13 .

The WNBA’s 2025 schedule has 44 games, and it would be foolish to believe that the league would want to decrease the number of games in its season in the year after under the new CBA .