Four Spanish players in the WNBA, two historic debuts, and the highest draft pick ever. The season that confirms Spanish talent has a destination.
Some seasons are remembered for a title. And some seasons are remembered because they mark a before and after. For Spanish women’s basketball, 2026 is one of the latter.
Never before had there been so many Spanish players in the WNBA at the same time. Never before had a Spanish player been drafted so high. Never before had a single week in May brought together so many debuts with a Spanish accent in the best league in the world. This is not a conquest of titles. It is something perhaps more important: the confirmation that the path exists and that Spanish players are no longer an exception in the United States, but a presence.
Awa Fam, the highest pick in Spanish history
On April 13th, the Seattle Storm selected Awa Fam with the number 3 pick in the draft. It is the highest position ever reached by a Spanish player in the WNBA, a milestone that matches the ceiling Pau Gasol set in the NBA more than two decades ago.
She is 19 years old. She was born in Santa Pola, Alicante. She developed at Valencia Basket and spent time at Gernika before making the leap. On May 24th she debuted with the Storm just three days after closing her season in Spain, where she helped Valencia win the Liga Femenina. In those first twenty minutes she scored 10 points and grabbed 2 rebounds. No preseason. No adjustment period. With everyone watching.
Her selection was no surprise to those who followed her progression. It was a message: talent that is developed well, arrives.
Raquel Carrera, a debut five years in the making
That same week, on the other coast, another Spanish player made history. Raquel Carrera debuted with the New York Liberty, the reigning champions, at Barclays Center.
Her path to the WNBA was a long one. The Atlanta Dream selected her with the 15th pick in the 2021 draft — the third-highest Spanish player ever selected — but her rights ended up in New York. Five years later, after building a solid reputation in Europe and winning the Liga Femenina with Valencia, she finally crossed the Atlantic.
The Liberty’s general manager made it clear when they signed her: they valued Carrera’s combination of size, skill, and strength, and trusted in her growth within a global project they have been building for years. She did not arrive as a depth piece. She arrived at a championship team with a role to earn.
Four names, one signal
Joining Fam and Carrera are two more Spanish players in the league this season: María Conde, on the new Toronto Tempo expansion team, and Iyana Martín, selected with the 7th pick in the draft by the Portland Fire, who decided to stay in Europe this season — a completely legitimate decision that cancels neither her pick nor her future.
Four players. Four different paths. One same signal for Spanish basketball: the WNBA is no longer a distant, isolated destination for one Spanish player every many years. It is a real, reachable horizon, with several Spanish players competing at the same time in the best basketball on the planet.
What this means for those coming next
None of these players arrived overnight. Awa Fam left home very young to develop in a more demanding environment. Raquel Carrera built her career with patience over nearly a decade. Each one traveled a long path, with difficult decisions made at the right moment.
That is exactly the message that matters for a 15, 16, or 17-year-old player who dreams today of playing and studying in the United States: Spanish talent has a destination, but that destination is built. It is built with development, with visibility, and with the right decisions made in time.
For most players, that path does not start at the WNBA draft. It starts much earlier, in the American university system — primarily through the Junior College route — where a player can grow athletically and academically into the best version of herself.
The WNBA is the summit. The first step is far more accessible than it seems. And the moment to take it is now.
