When the Indiana Fever did not protect forward Temi Fagbenle in the expansion draft and let her go to the Golden State Valkyries, plenty of fans were shocked. Fagbenle had been a solid fit around Caitlin Clark and someone many Fever fans would have liked to see on the roster in the 2025 season. She also played well overseas during the offseason.
Fagbenle played only 22 games with the Fever due to an injury but averaged 6.4 points and 4.7 rebounds in 18.9 minutes off the bench. The veteran was a solid backup to youngster Aliyah Boston and one of the few Fever players who had played in the postseason before, appearing in four playoff games with the Minnesota Lynx between 2017 and 2019.
However, the decision makes some more sense now that it is clear that Fagbenle will have a very busy year and might not even be available in the 2025 season.
Temi Fagbenle might not play in the 2025 WNBA season
EuroBasket will likely keep several players out for at least a while during the WNBA season. The tournament takes place from June 18-29, featuring Group Phase games in Brno, Bologna, Hamburg, and Piraeus. EuroBasket is a major event, and several players will want to represent their countries.
The New York Liberty, for example, will likely lose Nyara Sabally and Leonie Fiebich for a while, and Satou Sabally will also have a chance to play for the German national team. Likewise, Temi Fagbenle wants to represent Great Britain. In the latest EuroBasket power rankings, Great Britain was ranked fourteenth ahead of only Portugal and Switzerland, but even if the team is not incredibly successful, playing in the tournament is a great opportunity for Fagbenle.
Fagbenle also has other non-basketball-related commitments. She will appear in “Children of Blood and Bone,” a movie based on Tomi Adeyemi’s novel that is based on West African mythology and follows a young woman on her journey to restore the magic that was stolen from her people by the king in a violent coup that took her mother’s life.
Fagbenle, who went to Harvard with Adeyemi, will join a cast featuring stars like Viola Davis, Idris Elba, Amandla Stenberg, and Cynthia Erivo, who just stared in “Wicked.” The movie started filming in mid-February, and while Fagbnele’s role in it has not been revealed yet, it is a major commitment.
So, between the movie and EuroBasket, the WNBA likely won’t be Fagbenle’s main focus this year. She has not even signed a contract yet. For a team like the Fever, who wants to compete for a championship, that is not what they are looking for. The Fever need players who are locked in and committed this year, so leaving Fagbenle unprotected in the expansion draft makes a lot more sense now.