Olympic medallist Gabby Williams re-signs with Storm for play-off bid

Olympic silver medalist and WNBA free agent Gabby Williams has signed a rest-of-season contract with the Seattle Storm, the team announced Tuesday. Williams, a former UConn star who played for France and nearly sent the gold medal game to overtime against Team USA, was named the Olympics’ best defenseman and named to the All-Star Five.

Williams played for the Storm in 2022 and part of 2023, but opted to remain with her French national team ahead of the Olympics this spring. She is the face of the WNBA’s priority clause, a controversial part of the collective bargaining agreement that suspends players who fail to arrive at training camp on time. Many WNBA players continue to play their offseasons with clubs abroad, where playoff games can spill into the WNBA season.

The 5-foot-11 forward was able to sign with a team this season despite missing training camp because she was a free agent who completed her offseason playing obligation before the start of the WNBA regular season. Williams played in the French league, which normally runs longer than the start of the W season. This year, the league planned to end the season early so players could prepare for the Olympic Games in Paris.

While the signing happened to fall on trade deadline day, teams can sign free agents for a pro-rated minimum until the final day of the regular season. Williams, who played in Chicago from 2018 to 2020, signed a pro-rated fat minimum for the final month of the season. Seattle had $24,195 in cap space, according to Her Hoop Stats, and had to wait until Tuesday to sign Williams for $23,491.

The Storm (17-10) went 0-2 in the first weekend back from the WNBA’s All-Star/Olympic break. It moved them out of fourth place in the race for hosting duties. Seattle concludes its three-game road trip in Washington on Tuesday. Williams will rejoin the team next week in Seattle, the team said in a news release. The Storm host the Mystics on Monday, the Dream on Wednesday and the league-leading Liberty on Friday.

This post is being updated.