Toronto Tempo Suspend Julie Allemand’s Contract as Belgium Star Heads to FIBA World Cup
Toronto is losing its floor general for three games. The Tempo temporarily suspended Julie Allemand’s contract Wednesday so she can join Belgium for the FIBA Women’s World Cup, according to Chelsea Leite of TSN Sports.
This is a standard WNBA move. When a player leaves for FIBA, the team suspends the contract and stops paying salary until she returns. What it means for Toronto in the short term is more painful.
Allemand has been arguably the Tempo’s most important player in the franchise’s inaugural WNBA season. She only averages 6.3 points per game, but she is not paid to score. She leads the team in assists at 5.6 and steals at 1.4 while shooting a scorching 54.3 percent from the floor and 42.4 percent from three. Those are franchise cornerstone numbers dressed up as a role player line.
Toronto is already out of the playoff picture. That makes this decision easier for the front office. Losing three games during a lost season for a starter to represent her national team is a fine cost. It also builds trust with a player they want to keep long term.
The three games she will miss are Seattle, Las Vegas, and Phoenix. All three of those teams are playoff caliber. This is not the stretch of the schedule where Toronto was going to steal wins anyway.
The FIBA World Cup runs September 4 through September 13. Belgium is one of the sneaky good teams in this bracket. Allemand is the primary playmaker on a roster that competes at the top of the European hierarchy. She will get a legitimate international run before returning to Toronto on the 18th against Indiana.
For the WNBA as a whole, this is another reminder that the league is competing for its own stars against the international calendar. FIBA windows will keep chewing up rosters until the WNBA either lengthens the offseason or figures out how to pay international players enough to skip national team duty. That is not happening this year.
The Tempo made the right move. Suspend the deal, wish her luck, and get back to building for year two.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
