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For many WNBA players, playing overseas basketball isn’t just on offseason whim, but a necessity to keep their game sharp for the next WNBA season and earn extra income.
The income side of things may be resolved after ongoing CBA negotiations may result in increased player pay, but the other side of overseas basketball is the opportunity for a new experience, in a new place, with a new style of play.
Golden State Valkyries guard Kaitlyn Chen will take on her overseas journey for the first time in her professional career this offseason with USK Praha of the Czech Women’s Basketball League, a subsection of FIBA EuroLeague. USK Praha is one of the most prestigious teams in the league and the defending Czech Women’s Basketball League champions.
Playing overseas wasn’t something that Chen had initially planned on, but when her agent presented her with the opportunity to join USK Praha, she took it.
“It was actually really, really last-minute,” Chen said on Azzi Fudd’s podcast Fudd Around and Find Out. “My agent had brought it up, maybe a week before, and I didn’t really think anything of it, because he didn’t say anything else. Then, he brings it up again and is like, ‘I really think you should do this and they want you to leave in three days.”
The days leading up to her trip to Prague was a whirlwind experience. She had travelled from Cabo on a trip with her fellow Valkyries, to a trip to Toronto, where she connected with her agent and found out about the her chance with USK Praha.
Already away from home with such little time to pack, Chen’s mom actually traveled to Toronto to drop off everything the newest member of USK everything she needed to make the trip.
Chen appears to be adapting well to her temporary stint in a new city. When asked about her practice day routine in Prague, Chen said that she had just cooked for the first time in her new apartment and was already making new friends in the city. On the basketball side of things, though, Chen said it was business as usual.
“Game day, I feel like it’s pretty similar to every other game day. Wake up, shootaround in the morning, come home, nap and then go to the game,” Chen said.
Chen will be with her new team for two-and-a-half months, she says, and while she looks to help USK Praha pursue back-to-back championships and then bring that winning culture back with her to the WNBA.
