BASKETBALL
By TOM HAYES
BASKETBALL Australia has announced the respective squads for both the Boomers and Opals ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Traralgon’s Jade Melbourne was selected and will be heading to Paris for her first Olympic Games appearance.
Melbourne has played for Australia prior to this selection, and was a member of the Opals 2021 FIBA Women’s Asia Cup campaign in which they took home the bronze medal.
The Traralgon baller has stepped things up this WNBA season after being traded to the Washington Mystics in the off-season from the Seattle Storm, posting averages of six points, two rebounds and two assists in just an average of 13 minutes of action per game.
Also featuring in the WNBL back home, Melbourne plays for the University of Canberra Capitals, enduring a stand-out season last time out. She recently penned a new contract with the Capitals ahead of the 2024/25 season.
The Opals landed in Pool B, which starts off against host-nation France, Canada and Nigeria.
Also from Traralgon, Jack White, unfortunately missed the final cut for the Boomers, missing out on his first Olympic appearance.
White returned to the NBL ahead of the upcoming 2024/25 season, after winning an NBA championship with Denver Nuggets two seasons ago.
Josh Giddey has also been selected to his first Olympic Games for the Boomers. Giddey has loose ties to the Latrobe Valley, where his mum spent time in Morwell growing up.
Giddey was recently traded from the Oklahoma City Thunder in the NBA to the Chicago Bulls, hoping for a fresh start in an equally young team with more opportunity and in an even bigger city.
The Boomers are situated in tough Pool A preparing to face gold medal fancies Canada, perennial contenders Spain, and Greece.
Lauren Jackson (playing her first Olympics since London 2012), Patty Mills and Joe Ingles will play in their fifth Olympic Games, joining Andrew Gaze as the only Australian basketballers to do so.
