{"id":631728,"date":"2026-05-08T22:42:07","date_gmt":"2026-05-08T22:42:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/631728\/"},"modified":"2026-05-08T22:42:07","modified_gmt":"2026-05-08T22:42:07","slug":"seattle-issues-wnba-rookie-temporary-suspension-ahead-of-2026-season-tipoff","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/631728\/","title":{"rendered":"Seattle Issues WNBA Rookie Temporary Suspension Ahead of 2026 Season Tipoff"},"content":{"rendered":"

Seattle Storm placed WNBA rookie and No. 3 draft pick Awa Fam<\/a> under a temporary suspension on Thursday, taking the 19-year-old center off its 2026 season tipoff roster.<\/p>\n

The Storm revealed the temporary suspension on the WNBA transactions page<\/a> after Fam dodged a final roster cut. The move stems from Fam’s overseas commitment to Spanish club Valencia, where she signed a contract that runs through 2029.<\/p>\n

Azzi Fudd went No. 1 to Dallas while Olivia Miles went No. 2 to Minnesota, before Seattle selected Fam third overall. All three were considered potential top picks before the 2026 WNBA Draft<\/a>.<\/p>\n

What ‘Temporary Suspension’ Means for the WNBA Rookie<\/p>\n

The temporary suspension is not disciplinary. By placing Fam under this status, she remains within Seattle’s salary cap but does not occupy an active roster spot<\/a>. The Storm can subsequently activate the Spanish international whenever she returns to the States.<\/p>\n

Players receive temporary suspensions<\/a> for several reasons, from international duty to personal reasons. The process differs greatly from a disciplinary suspension for WNBA rule violations.<\/p>\n

Fam signed a reported four-year, $1.95 million deal with the Storm after being drafted, but did not feature in Seattle’s preseason slate. <\/p>\n

Last season, the center averaged 7.0 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 1.3 assists in 12 games for Valencia. Fam also represented Spain in March’s FIBA World Cup Qualifying Tournament<\/a>. There, she recorded 10 points, five rebounds, and two steals in an 84-70 loss to a Team USA.<\/p>\n

Seattle remains keen on Fam despite her early-season absence, viewing her as a promising talent capable of making an immediate impact after playing out her Valencia contract.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Seattle Storm placed WNBA rookie and No. 3 draft pick Awa Fam under a temporary suspension on Thursday,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":631729,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[273043,177217,161082,4676,99,20424,434],"class_list":["post-631728","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wnba","tag-2026-wnba-roster-cuts","tag-2026-wnba-season","tag-awa-fam","tag-seattle-storm","tag-sports","tag-valencia","tag-wnba"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/631728","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=631728"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/631728\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/631729"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=631728"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=631728"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=631728"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}