Gabby Williams and the NY Liberty rumors settled finally. Since the French star Gabby Williams came to the national limelight after her spectacular 19-point performance in the Paris Olympics, there have been murmurs of her joining the WNBA. The Chicago Sky star Angel Reese had requested Williams to join her ex-team after seeing her in Paris. However, Williams declined the offer back then.

Post that, it was expected that the 27-year-old would take a break for one year so that she could return as a fully unrestricted free agent in the next WNBA season. However, Williams has surprised many as well and might have left the New York Liberty fans heartbroken when it was announced on Tuesday that she would be recommitting to the Storm in this year’s season.

The Underdog WNBA account on X shared the news of Williams making a comeback in the WNBA. “Transaction alert: Gabby Williams to sign with the Storm,” the account stated. The news came after there were rumors that the Paris star could join the Liberty.

The Liberty have less on guards this season as they have only two main stars as guards namely Sabrina Ionescu and Courtney Vandersloot. Hence, the fans were hoping that Williams would join their team and help take them to the Championship title. Something that they came quite close to last year but were eventually defeated by the Las Vegas Aces.

This was a homecoming for Williams since she had plied her trade with the Storm for two seasons in 2022 and 2023. In the 2022 season, Williams had played 36 games and started in all of them with an average of 7.5 points per game with 5 rebounds per game. Meanwhile, in the 2023 season, Williams suffered a concussion that helped her sign with sign with the Storm midway.

Initially, Williams was representing the club ASVEL in France. But, since she was unable to play for them, Williams was released from the contract which made her eligible to represent the Storm. In the 10 games she played, Williams averaged 8.4 points per game with 3.6 rebounds per game.

After signing with the Storm, Williams put out a post thanking the team. “Missed yall 🫶🏽,” Williams stated while resharing her signing post. The news is celebratory for the Storm fans since Seattle had $24,195 cap space.

The pro-rated vet minimum to sign was $24,249 on Monday whereas today it’s $23,491 and coincidentally it is also the deadline of trading day, hence, the last-minute decision would have thrilled the Storm fans who have a 17-10 tally. But then why did Williams reject Reese’s offer, if she had to sign with the WNBA?

Why did Gabby Williams reject Angel Reese’s offer?

Williams rejected Reese’s offer by stating “orrrrrr we could just play together for a différent organization.” Williams was a part of the Sky franchise from 2018-2020. Though she performed what was expected of her, Williams got into the negative books of the then-Sky coach James Wade, who opined that Williams hadn’t made the Sky a “priority.”

Williams was then representing France and had to take a leave to participate in EuroBasket and the Tokyo Olympics. This apparently didn’t go down well with Wade who wanted Williams’s complete commitment. She was then suspended for a full year as a punishment which also means she wasn’t paid according to the WNBA contract. Hence, probably why Williams does not want to be associated with the Sky.

But now that Williams has signed with the Storm, fans will once again gather in the arenas to watch her play. Hopefully, the professional will be able to do justice to her role and defeat her opponents—something she must have missed during the gold medal game in France.

Stay tuned for more such updates and join us for the exciting second episode of the “Dual Threat Show” as our host BG12 sits down with Georgia Bulldogs star and Mountain West All-Freshman Team Selection, Asia Avinger.