Controversial basketball star Liz Cambage says she will step away from the WNBA "for the time being", addressing for the first time her departure from the Los Angeles Sparks last month.
She said in an Instagram post that she would "be taking this time to focus on my healing and personal growth before providing clarification on past rumours".
It is unclear if the rumours she is referring to are about allegations from former Opals teammates and media outlets about racist abuse of Nigerian players during a warm-up game before last year's Olympics, or her departure from the Sparks while they were in a race for the play-offs last month.
"Playing for the Sparks was a dream come true and I'm honored (sic) to have shared the court with such amazing ladies for as long as we did," she wrote.
"I'm sorry to have left abruptly and I wish it would have ended on a different note."
Cambage reportedly told her Sparks teammates less than a month before the end of the regular season: "I can't do this anymore. Best of luck to you guys."
The team lost eight of their final nine games and finished out of the play-offs for the second consecutive season.
Cambage, who turns 31 this week, said she would miss wearing the team's colours and called on the WNBA to create stronger support systems for players.
"I've decided to step away from the league for the time being and I'm hopeful that the WNBA will do their part in creating safer environments and a stronger support system for their players," she said.
Shortly after arriving at the Sparks, Cambage told ABC Sport she felt "supported [and] protected on a level that the Opals or the Australian team never gave to me".
Her criticism of the Opals reignited interest in her abrupt departure from the national team before the Tokyo Games, with former teammate Jenna O'Hea telling the ABC's Offsiders program she "always loved her, always cared for her, always supported her, always had her back".
O'Hea also confirmed rumours Cambage told Nigerian players to "go back to your third-world country", with a News Corp report later claiming she called them "monkeys".
She denied the allegations.
Cambage averaged 13 points and 6.4 rebounds for the Sparks in 25 games this season after signing as a free agent in the off-season.
She has been vocal about her mental health for a long time, sitting out six years before coming back and asking to be traded from Tulsa, which by then had moved to Dallas.
Cambage played in Las Vegas for two seasons before becoming a free agent and choosing Los Angeles.
ABC/AP
