2019 Finals MVP Meesseman won't join Mystics this season
Emma Meesseman - the 2019 WNBA Finals MVP whose heroics brought the Washington Mystics their first championship - will not join the team this season.
The Belgian national team star expressed a need to recuperate after a busy year overseas in a statement through the Mystics.
"The whole summer, I thought and believed I would join the Mystics again after the European Championship and the Olympics, but it turns out the only right decision is to take some extra time for myself," the 28-year-old said. "I wish it was different because everybody knows I love the Mystics family."
With Mystics frontcourt stars Elena Delle Donne and Tina Charles both missing the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, Meesseman picked up where she left off in the 2019 Finals; the 6-foot-4 forward averaged 13 points, 5.3 rebounds, 4.5 assists, and 1.2 steals per game for an undermanned Washington squad.
"While we had hoped for Emma's return for the last part of the season, we know this has been a long summer with her national team and understand her decision," Mystics coach and general manager Mike Thibault said. "We hope she can enjoy the much-deserved time off, and we look forward to possibly seeing her in a Mystics uniform next season."
The 9-14 Mystics enter the regular-season home stretch sitting 10th in the standings - half a game back of the eighth-seeded Dallas Wings for the WNBA's final playoff berth.
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