Awa Fam, Raquel Carrera, Iyana Martín and María Conde are in the 2026 WNBA. What this means for Spanish women’s basketball.
The WNBA’s 30th season tipped off on May 8th. Two new franchises, 15 teams, and the highest level of play in league history. And on that stage, four Spanish players. This is no coincidence. It is the result of years of development, of hard decisions made young, and of a generation that believed the path existed even when no one had drawn them a map.
Here is what they are living right now.
Awa Fam debuts with 10 points. At 19 years old. Pick #3 in the draft.
On Sunday, May 24th, Awa Fam stepped onto the floor at Capital One Arena wearing a Seattle Storm jersey. Twenty minutes. Ten points. Four of seven from the field. A 97-85 win over the Washington Mystics.
Three days earlier she had arrived in Seattle. Three days earlier she had closed her season in Valencia, where she helped Valencia Basket win the Liga Femenina title. No preseason with the team. No adjustment period. With everyone watching.
Fam was selected as the #3 overall pick in the April 13th draft — the highest position ever reached by a Spanish player in the WNBA, matching the record Pau Gasol set in the NBA more than two decades ago. She is 19 years old. She turns 20 in June. She left Alicante at 12 to live and train in Valencia because she knew she needed a more demanding environment. That decision, made together with her family when she was still a child, is part of the reason she is here today.
The #3 pick was no surprise to those who have followed her development closely. It was, however, a message to Spanish basketball: talent that is developed well, arrives.
Raquel Carrera, finally in the most demanding league in the world
Raquel Carrera’s relationship with the WNBA has been a long one. The league wanted her. She knew the timing had to be right. This year, she finally crossed the Atlantic to join the New York Liberty — the team many consider the most talented in recent league history.
Breanna Stewart. Sabrina Ionescu. Jonquel Jones. Satou Sabally. And now Raquel Carrera. This is not a depth roster. It is a championship-built project with four players who have been or will be MVP candidates.
Carrera arrives as a versatile forward on a team that does not need anyone to do everything — only every piece to fit precisely. That is exactly the kind of environment that accelerates the growth of a high-level player.
María Conde, a pioneer in Toronto
The Toronto Tempo is one of two expansion teams making their debut this season. A brand new franchise, built from scratch, where every minute a player logs carries historical weight. María Conde is on that team.
Conde plays as a forward in a project that has committed to being competitive from day one, without waiting through rebuilding cycles. For a Spanish player in the WNBA, being part of a team that is still defining its identity can offer something established franchises simply cannot: minutes, a central role, and the chance to become part of a franchise’s DNA from the very beginning.
Iyana Martín: another valid decision
Iyana Martín was selected with the #7 pick in the draft by the Portland Fire. She could have been on this list as a rookie. She chose to stay in Europe this season.
It is worth saying clearly: it is a completely legitimate decision. The European context can continue to develop a player. The WNBA does not disappear. The draft pick does not get cancelled. Martín remains one of the best young players on the continent, and she has time. Personal, athletic, and financial circumstances are all part of any decision of this magnitude.
What her choice also shows is that the WNBA is a destination you can reach at different points in your career — not a window that closes if you don’t step through it at 20.
What this means for you
Four Spanish players in the WNBA in the same season had never happened before. Not like this, not at this level of prominence.
None of them got here overnight. Awa Fam left home at 12. Raquel Carrera built a career with patience. María Conde crossed the Atlantic to join a project from the ground floor. Iyana Martín decided her moment had not yet come.
Four different paths. Four stories that prove the same thing: Spanish women’s talent has a real destination in American basketball. The path exists. What it takes is developing it seriously from a young age and not being afraid to make big decisions when the moment arrives.
That is exactly what we do at Sport Change Project.
Want to know how the journey from Spain to American universities works? Find out here.
