Phoenix Mercury's ties to Australia run deep
The Mercury's Australian connection continues in 2024 with Bec Allen, Jaz Shelley and Amy Atwell.
Since the league’s inaugural season in 1997, more than 40 Australians have played in the WNBA, but one franchise has had a more sizable connection to the land down under than the others: The Phoenix Mercury.
The Australian influence in Phoenix began when Hall of Fame point guard Michele Timms was assigned to the Mercury during the league’s initial player allocation.
The Melbourne native spent 1997-2001 in Phoenix and helped lead the Mercury to a 1998 WNBA Finals appearance before falling to the Houston Comets in the best-of-three series. The 1999 WNBA All-Star later had her No. 7 retired by the Phoenix Mercury in 2002, becoming the second player ever to have their jersey retired in the WNBA. Timms, part of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame’s Class of 2024, still ranks in the Mercury’s top five all-time assists and steals lists.
After Timms, the Aussie influence in Phoenix only grew. Adelaide native Michelle Brogan and Bendigo native Kristi Harrower both signed with the Mercury as free agents before the start of the 1998 season, and Geelong native Michelle Cleary also signed with Phoenix prior to the start of the 2000 season.
But the Mercury’s Australian connection was further forged when former Opals teammates Penny Taylor and Sandy Brondello linked their talents in Phoenix.
A former Cleveland Rocker, Taylor was selected first overall by the Mercury in the 2004 dispersal draft. The Melbourne native played 10 seasons with the Mercury and went on to win three WNBA championships with Phoenix (2007, 2009 and 2014) before later serving as the team’s Director of Player Development and Performance and subsequently an assistant coach for the franchise in 2019.
Queensland native Sandy Brondello served as the Mercury’s head coach from 2014-2021 and led the Mercury to the playoffs in each season she was at the helm. The 2014 WNBA Coach of the Year also guided the team to a championship that season and later another finals appearance in 2021.
But in 2017, Brondello was appointed head coach of the Australian national team, allowing the coach to see Australian talent first-hand before bringing Aussie players such as Leilani Mitchell, Cayla George and Tess Madgen to Phoenix.
The Mercury and Brondello mutually parted ways at the end of the 2021 season, but with Bec Allen, Jaz Shelley and Amy Atwell currently in camp with the Mercury, the Australian connection is continuing in Phoenix in 2024.
“For me it’s really the first time (other than having Sandy as my head coach in New York) to have an Aussie accent so I’m loving it,” Bec Allen said. Allen was coached by Brondello for one season when the forward played for the New York Liberty in 2022.
“I think it’s nice and what’s been funny is Jaz and I never met because I’ve been overseas for a while she’s been overseas too and it’s the same for Amy, so it’s been nice that we’re also getting to know each other even though we’re from the same country,” Allen said. “But you realize basketball is very small in the end so it’s been nice to have some Aussies on the team.”
The Mercury acquired Allen in a sign-and-trade deal with the Connecticut Sun in February. The Mercury dealt guard Moriah Jefferson to Connecticut in return.
Allen played last season in Connecticut after the Sun acquired her in a three-team trade with the New York Liberty and Dallas Wings in January 2023. She played in all 40 games and made 27 starts for the Sun, averaging 6.4 points, 2.8 rebounds, 0.9 assists, 0.9 steals and a team-leading and career-high 1.3 blocks per game.
“Becca is a multidimensional player, who can impact the game on both ends of the floor with her elite shooting, versatility and length,” Mercury general manager Nick U’Ren said in February. “The veteran leadership and high basketball IQ that she brings will be invaluable to our team.”
Last season, her multidimensionality was put on display when she became the 10th fastest player in WNBA history to record at least 1,000 points, 500 rebounds, 150 blocks and 180 three-point field goals made in her career.
Allen, who has played for Australia at the senior level since 2014, won bronze medals at the 2022 and 2014 FIBA World Cups and a silver medal in the 2018 FIBA World Cup.
Shelley was drafted by the Mercury with the 29th overall pick in the 2024 draft after a college career at Oregon and Nebraska.
The point guard from Traralgon, Victoria, was Sabrina Ionescu and Satou Sabally’s teammate during her freshman year at Oregon and won Pac-12 regular season and tournament championships before the 2020 NCAA tournament was canceled due to the pandemic.
After a sophomore season in which she also saw a reduced role with the Ducks, she entered the transfer portal and played the last three seasons at Nebraska (starting in 99 out of 100 games). In 2023-24 she averaged 13.4 points, 5.7 assists, 4.3 rebounds and 1.6 steals and was named to the Big Ten All-Tournament Team.
The rookie now finds herself on a veteran team with the likes of Allen, Diana Taurasi, Brittney Griner, Kahleah Copper and Sophie Cunningham as teammates.
Shelley said it was “really cool” to see a lot of player-led examples during training camp with the energy and passion coming from everyone on the team and not just the coaching staff.
“I was a little scared coming into training camp,” Shelley said. “Obviously, there’s some incredible basketball players, so you never know what they’re like as people but I have felt so welcomed. Everyone has kinda taken me under their wing, they have really helped me through this whole process, so it’s actually really enjoyable for me right now. I was kinda terrified to come into a WNBA training camp, but this has been an unreal experience and I’m super grateful for the vets kinda helping me out along the way.”
Despite the early success, Shelley said she is remaining level-headed and grounded in her first WNBA camp.
“I think it’s a common theme being an Aussie is we’re pretty chill we like to go out for coffee we’re pretty level-headed,” Shelley said. “We’re raised right so I think’s it’s the Aussie in us but we work just as hard as everyone else and we stay confident in ourselves but we maybe just show it in a different way.”
Atwell, who signed a training camp contract with the Mercury in February, was drafted by the Los Angeles Sparks in the 2022 draft but was waived by L.A. after appearing in four games. The Former University of Hawaii standout most recently played with the Perth Lynx and Bendigo Braves in Australia before getting a second chance in the WNBA.