Olympic medalist Gabby Williams re-signs with Storm to qualify for playoffs

Olympic silver medalist and WNBA free agent Gabby Williams has signed a contract for the remainder of the season 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’ top defensive player and named to the All-Star Five.

Williams played for the Storm in 2022 and part of 2023, but opted to stay with her French national team heading into this spring’s Olympics. 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 on time for training camp. Many WNBA players still spend their offseason playing for clubs overseas, where the playoffs can spill over into the WNBA season.

The 5’8″ forward was able to sign with a team this season despite missing training camp because she was a free agent who completed her offseason obligation before the start of the WNBA regular season. Williams played in the French league, which typically extends beyond the start of the WNBA season. This year, the league scheduled its season to end early so players could prepare for the Paris Olympics.

Although the signing occurred on trade deadline day, teams can sign free agents through the final day of the regular season at a prorated minimum. Williams, who played in Chicago from 2018-20, signed a prorated veteran 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 at $23,491.

The Storm (17-10) finished the first weekend after the WNBA’s All-Star and Olympic breaks 0-2, falling out of fourth place in the race to host games. Seattle ends its three-game road trip in Washington on Tuesday. Williams will join the team in Seattle next week, the team said in a statement. The Storm will host the Mystics on Monday, the Dream on Wednesday and league-leading Liberty on Friday.

This article will be updated.