McCarville Speaks Out About Suspension

The questions and rumors that swirled following the news of the season-long suspension of Janel McCarville are, to some extent, finally being answered… by McCarville herself. The six-year pro broke her silence using her Twitter account, responding to a fan-generated blogpost on Yahoo!

The widely popular McCarville was suspended by the Liberty on June 2, the eve of the WNBA’s 15th tipoff, for “failure to report” to the team’s preseason camp. Team officials kept a tight lip regarding the decision, and media efforts to reach McCarville were unsuccessful.

But McCarville finally started to speak out, posting tweets that claimed her absence from training camp was unrelated to an injury or overseas contract. However, she did allude to a crammed playing schedule, particularly the lack of time off between her season playing basketball in Italy and the WNBA preseason.

“My season ended in Italy on May 11 at 10 p.m. I was on a flight out at 8 a.m. on the 13th. Had 24hr travel. Home on the 14th @ 1 a.m. the same day I’m supposed to report to camp. I couldn’t get 4-5 days to hug [and] kiss my family or unpack/repack my bags. I was already taking an enormous fine all because my season went late in Italy. In my eyes – $1000 a day is a bit steep! And I didn’t stand for it,” she wrote.

McCarville went public with her thoughts in part to a “fan perspective” posted on Yahoo! and other rumors on WNBA Internet forums, many of which presume she is nursing an injury.

“Not everyone knows all the details, so before you pass [judgement] on others, get ya facts straight!” she wrote on Twitter.

We hope to hear more from McCarville and perhaps a response from team officials. Fans just want to know if their beloved player is OK and if a future with the Liberty is still probable.

Despite her suspension, McCarville still remains one of the most popular Liberty players. During New York’s home opener at Newark last Saturday, the most commonly worn jersey (behind stars Cappie Pondexter and Essence Carson) on fans’ backs was McCarville’s #4.