WNBA's Lynx Waive Ex-Ca Star Layshia Clarendon - At Least For Now

The WNBA season begins tonight but the former Golden Bears star won't be playing.

The Minnesota Lynx opens its WNBA season tonight on the road against the Seattle Storm.

Layshia Clarendon will not be with the team after being waived earlier this week.

But could the former Cal star return to the team? Sounds like it’s a possibility.

The Minneapolis Star Tribune reported that Clarendon dealt with a right fibula stress fracture late last season and that the issue flared up again during training camp.

"It wasn't that Lay became a bad basketball player," Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve told the newspaper. "It had nothing to do with Lay's abilities to lead or play. Just, we didn't feel like, to start the season, we were in a good place physically.”

Clarendon, the WNBA’s first openly nonbinary player, offered a different point of view on social media.

Twitter

“I’ve gotten a few media requests for comments on being waived and my story,” Clarendon wrote on Twitter. “I have no comments other than I am 100 percent cleared to play and practice. I’m feeling strong and ready to play.”

The Lynx overhauled its roster with a series of moves this week, waiving six players, including its two 2022 draft picks. But Clarendon was regarded as the most surprising.

Even the Star-Tribune posed the possibility of Clarendon’s eventual return with this sub-head to its story:

The Lynx overhauled their backcourt to prepare for Friday's season opener. But will any of the players who didn't make the current roster be back soon?

Clarendon, 31, was signed by Minnesota last season after Lynx started 0-4, and the point guard helped the team to a 22-10 record and the No. 3 seed in the playoffs. They averaged 10.4 points and 5.7 assists.

Clarendon signed a one-year, non-guaranteed $90,000 contract in February, but their injury never fully healed, causing them to playing limited minutes during the preseason. Had Clarendon landed a spot on the final 11-player roster their contract would have become fully guaranteed, the Tribune reported.

"Our thinking was I have a point guard who can't be in every rep and has to be modified and, you know, at the drop of a hat, might have some soreness or things like that," Reeve said. "It doesn't feel like the right thing to do to start the season. Would I love to have Lay back at some point? Absolutely.”

One of the leading scorers in Cal history, Clarendon led the Bears to their only Final Four appearance in 2013 then was the No. 9 pick in the WNBA draft by the Indiana Fever.

Clarendon also has played with Atlanta, Connecticut and New York and this would be their 10th WNBA season.

Cover photo of Layshia Clarendon by Stephen Gosling, NBAE via Getty Images

Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo