Basketball
28 May, 2025
'I'll be back', MVP Bibby says
Only weeks into what was shaping up to be an unforgettable summer with Golden State Valkyries, Chloe Bibby has been cut from the brand-new US team's roster.
During a spring training camp, the Californian side, based in San Francisco, announced on May 12 that Bibby had been released from her contract and was free to negotiate with other Women's National Basketball League (WNBL) clubs.
In February the 26-year-old had become the first Australian signed by the Valkyries for what would be their inaugural season.
The news is certainly not all bad for Bibby, however.
Golden State's decision to delist her came only three weeks after she was celebrated as the most valuable player for a second year running in a major European basketball league.
On April 21 Bibby was named MVP of the Liga Femenina de Baloncesto in Spain, where she averaged 18 points and five rebounds per game, shooting 52.4 per cent from the field and 43.3 per cent from the three-point line, for Spar Girona.
Along the way, she helped Girona to qualify for a return to EuroLeague Women in 2025–26.
Born in Horsham, Bibby attended school in Warracknabeal until moving to Melbourne in her mid teens to further her sporting career.
She made her Australian WNBL debut in the 2013–14 season at just 15 years of age.
After spending four years with Dandenong Rangers, she took up a university scholarship in the US.
In the US collegiate system, she represented Mississippi State Bulldogs in 2017–20 and then Maryland Terrapins.
After graduating she participated in a training camp in April 2022 with US WNBL team Minnesota Lynx.
Bibby returned to Australia to play with Perth Lynx for the 2022–23 WNBL season, and then with Frankston Blues in 2023 and Ballarat Miners in 2024 in the NBL1 South competition, earning back-to-back 'all-star five' selection as one of the top players in Australian domestic competition.
At the same time she was recruited by AZS AJP Gorzów Wielkopolski in Poland for 2023–24, where she was named the national league's MVP – a rare achievement for an Australian anywhere in Europe.
That Polish success led to her signing last June with Uni Girona CB in Spain for the 2024–25 winter.
As news of her departure from Golden State circulated, Bibby responded via social media: "Thank you to friends, family and everyone for all the love and support.
"Whether you believe in god, the universe or everything in between, everything happens for a reason.
"I'll be back."
In recent days, rather than lamenting the disappointment of her axing from the Valkyries, Bibby has been sharing photographs of herself enjoying life both on and off the court in Spain.
