When Emma Meesseman began to miss stretches in 2017, and later, full seasons like in 2018 and 2021 to focus on the Belgium women’s national basketball team as opposed to the Washington Mystics in the summer, it began to cause friction with at least some fans, myself included.
And though Meesseman became one of the absolute best basketball players in the world, it doesn’t mean much to Mystics or WNBA fans if she is missing long stretches or entire seasons.
Despite what some of the commenters think, I have written this numerous times on my belief that the Mystics shouldn’t sign most European players. They just aren’t committed, or committed enough to the WNBA.
I’ll be honest. I don’t like the Julie Vanloo signing. And I have significant reservations about Claessens being drafted. I don’t think most WNBA teams will be dying to draft Claessens or other Europeans playing for countries relevant on the world stage. Also, some of these countries will do what they can to keep their players within their … borders, or at least the Schengen Zone in the summer in the case of most European countries.
That said, Belgium may seem to be more amenable to seeing their best players in the WNBA than France or Spain, their biggest rivals.
Back to the Mystics’ recent Belgian signings, my hesitation with Vanloo and Claessens has nothing to do with their skills. If they were Americans, or maybe Canadians, I’d be thrilled to see them in a Monumental Red jersey. I love their style of play and I love watching the Belgian Cats! I just hate that European national teams’ schedules conflict so much with the WNBA’s summer schedules.
Okay, I already wrote well over 200 words before mentioning Washington Mystics General Manager Mike Thibault. So why am I writing this piece and mentioned him in the title?
Simple. Thibault has his rationale for drafting or signing European players over their American counterparts.
In an article on Sporza, a Dutch language television network in Belgium (just so you know, most of the Belgian players are native Dutch speakers, or Flemish as most non-Beneluxers would say), Thibault explained that he saw that European players, especially in their youth, were more well rounded in their games compared to Americans, who were more likely to be “pegged into a position,” Here is a quote from that piece (in English) that explains his thought process.
You often see that European players are more well-rounded. In America, young players may be put into a box too quickly.
In Europe, the education is much broader and everyone has to learn everything. That gives them an advantage over our own youth, though that has improved in the US in recent years.
Thibault went on to say that that Nastja Claessens, the Mystics’ third round pick in 2024, will not play for the team for at least one to two years.
The Sporza article also gave some tidbits on Claessen’s parents. Her father, Frederic, is the head coach of the women’s team in Waregem, a city in West Flanders province. For what it’s worth, West Flanders province is also home to Ieper, which is Emma Meesseman’s hometown. That province may be best women’s basketball region in all of Europe considering that numerous players, including former Mystics guard Kim Mestdagh are from there!
Claessen’s mother is Irina Medvedeva, who was also a former Belgian Cats player per the Sporza article. Medvedeva’s social media profiles indicate that she is of Russian descent/from the former Soviet Union based on her education.
Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.