BASKETBALL
WNBA
BY BLAKE METCALF-HOLT
MIGHT be time for some better fake teeth.
In the season-opener of the WNBA, Traralgon’s Jade Melbourne landed in the national spotlight, not just for her performance on the court either.
It still came out of that, displaying her typical Australian no-second-thought mentality, as with no hesitation, Melbourne dived for a lose ball during her return game for the Seattle Storm against the Golden State Valkyries.
After stripping Veronica Burton at the top of the three-point arch, Melbourne shot for the ball at the same time Burton pushed to recover it.
Melbourne got caught underneath, landing on the ground hard and needing a moment to get back up.
She quickly found her feet during the stoppage of play, but one thing was noticeable – her bright smile was impaired as a significant chunk of one of her front teeth had become misplaced.
The local Australian Opal was unphased, while the crowd and players offered different reactions, only for Melbourne to identify the missing canal fragments and hand it to one of the Seattle trainers.
This wasn’t a first for Melbourne either, as routine hard-nosed play has come at the expense of her pearly whites a few times.
Last year, while playing for the Washington Mystics, she caught an errant elbow to the face, resulting in a bloody mouth and a chipped tooth.
Not long after, when back on home soil in the WNBL with the University of Canberra Capitals, Melbourne had another incident where she found herself on the floor, requiring her to leave the game and return flaunting tape wrapped around the lower part of her face.
Melbourne was interviewed at the next break following the latest mishap, with an ESPN reporter asking if her tooth had been safely secured.
“The fake tooth’s with our medical staff, so hopefully I can get that fixed tonight and be back to my normal self,” Melbourne said.
As for the game itself, the Storm lost to the Valkyries, 91 to 80 at Climate Pledge Arena, Seattle on Friday.
Melbourne played 17 minutes in her first game for the Storm since 2023 (she was traded to Washington, playing two seasons, before returning during the offseason), shooting four-for-five from the field for 13 points and added three assists and two rebounds.
Two days later on Sunday, Seattle immediately got back on track with an 89-82 win over the Connecticut Sun at Mohegan Sun Arena, Uncasville.
Melbourne went even better in her second game, adding 15 points, six assists, a steal and a block in 23 minutes off the bench.
The Storm have five games this week before the in-season tournament, Commissioner’s Cup gets underway, which makes up part of the 44-game schedule during the regular season.
