Cayla George (née Francis; born 1 May 1989) is an Australian professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player. She has played in the

Women's National Basketball League The Women's National Basketball League (WNBL) is a professional women's basketball list of basketball leagues, league in Australia composed of eight teams. The league was founded in 1981 and is the Women's sports, women's counterpart to the Na ...

(WNBL) and

Women's National Basketball Association The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) is a women's professional basketball league in the United States. The league comprises 13 teams (scheduled to expand to 15 in 2026). The WNBA is headquartered in Midtown Manhattan. The WNBA w ...

(WNBA). In 2023, she was named WNBL Most Valuable Player and won a

WNBA championship The WNBA Finals is the championship series of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and the conclusion of the league's postseason each fall. The series was named the WNBA Championship until 2002. The series is played between the win ...

. George made her

Opals Opal is a hydrated amorphous form of silicon dioxide, silica (SiO2·''n''H2O); its water content may range from 3% to 21% by weight, but is usually between 6% and 10%. Due to the amorphous (chemical) physical structure, it is classified as a ...

debut in 2008 and played at the

2020 Tokyo Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

. She currently sits on the board of the

Australian Basketball Players' Association The Australian Basketball Players’ Association (ABPA) is a player-run organisation that represents basketball players in Australia. Current administration Greg O'Neill is the current chairman of the ABPA's board, with the other board members be ...

Early life

George was born on 1 May 1989 in

Mount Barker, South Australia Mount Barker is a city in South Australia. Located approximately 33 kilometres (21 miles) from the Adelaide city centre, it is home to 21,554 residents (2021). It is the seat of the District Council of Mount Barker, the largest town in the Adela ...

. Her mother, older sister and half sister live in South Australia, while her father lives in Cairns. She lived with her father in Fiji for four months during 2001. George is tall The WNBL lists her height at though ''The Advertiser'' of Adelaide, list her height as and Logan Thunder and FIBA lists her height as . George started out playing netball, but ultimately chose basketball because she preferred the contact aspect of the sport.

Playing career

George played in the Central Australian Basketball League for the Eastern Mavericks. She was with the team for the 2007 season and went on to help her team win their first league championship in 2008. She was named the league's best and fairest, winning the Halls Medal. She was also named the league's player of the year in 2008. She averaged 22.4 points per game in 2008. She led the league that season in offensive rebounding with 4.8 per game. She also led the league in defensive rebounds per game with 14.2. She led in the rebounding category with 18.9 per game. In 2009, George played for the Ballarat Lady Miners in the SEABL. In 2010, she played for the Sandringham Sabres in the SEABL. In 2011, she played in the Queensland Basketball League for the Cairns Dolphins. Her play with the team drew the attention the national selectors. In the 2011 season, she was the player of the round in two separate weeks. The first time was in round two. The second time was in round four. She was named a third time in round nine. In an April 2011 game in the SEABL, she scored 26 points and had 16 rebounds. George earned a silver medal with South Australia Metro at the 2005 U18 National Junior Championships. She participated in the U16 National Junior Championships in 2005, playing for South Australia Country. In 2006, she participated in the U18 National Junior Championships for South Australia Country. In 2006, she was named the South Australian Under 21 Player of the Year. She has won the R.E. Staunton award winner for Female MVP at U20 National Championships in 2008.In 2019 she join the new Hobart women's team the Hobart Huskies for the first three game of the NBL1 season.

WNBL

George played for the Australian Institute of Sport team for three years, including for the 2005/2006 season. In 2007, she won the WNBL Bettie Watson Rookie of the Year. During the 2007/2008 season, her Australian Institute of Sport team won eight games. George signed with the

Adelaide Lightning The Adelaide Lightning are an Australian professional basketball team competing in the Women's National Basketball League (WNBL). The club is based in the city of Adelaide, South Australia, and will play their home games at the State Basketball ...

in 2008. She played with the team during the 2008/2009 and 2009/2010 seasons. By November 2008 in the 2008/2009 season, she was averaging 16 points a game and 10.6 rebounds a game. In a November 2008 90–62 win over the Australian Institute of Sport, she scored 17 points, and had 7 rebounds in the game. In a November 2009 game against the Australian Institute of Sport which her won 100–77, while on the court 23:38 minutes, she scored 24 points and had a field goal percentage of 75%. In an October 2009 game Adelaide won 75–66 against Dandenong, she had 26 points and 17 rebounds, and had a field goal percentage of 50%. She did not miss a single one of her free throw shots. George joined the Logan Thunder in 2010. She played for them in 2010/2011 and 2011/2012. In November 2011, she helped her team stage a come from behind victory against the West Coast Waves. She wore no. 4 for the team. In January 2012, she was one of three players seriously considered for player of the week but lost to American Shanavia Dowdell. George returned to the WNBL with the

Townsville Fire The Townsville Fire are an Australian professional basketball team competing in the Women's National Basketball League (WNBL). The Fire are based in Townsville, Queensland, and play their home games at Townsville Entertainment and Convention Ce ...

in 2014. She played two seasons for the Fire. George joined the

Melbourne Boomers Geelong United is an Australian professional basketball team based in Geelong, Victoria. United compete in the Women's National Basketball League (WNBL) and play their home games at Geelong Arena. Beginning as the Bulleen Boomers in 1984, the ...

for the

2018–19 WNBL season The 2018–19 WNBL season is the 39th season of the competition since its establishment in 1981. The Townsville Fire were the defending champions, however they failed to qualify for the finals. Canberra Capitals won their record eighth champions ...

WNBA

On 4 February 2015, George signed with the WNBA's

Phoenix Mercury The Phoenix Mercury are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. The Mercury compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the Western Conference. One of eight original franchises, it wa ...

. In February 2017, George was re-acquired by the Mercury. On 2 February 2018, George was traded to the

Connecticut Sun The Connecticut Sun are an American professional basketball team based in Uncasville, Connecticut. The Sun compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the Eastern Conference (WNBA), Eastern Conference. The team i ...

. On 16 May 2018, George was waived by the Connecticut Sun. On 3 June 2018, George was signed by the Dallas Wings. On 1 February 2023, George signed as a free agent with the

Las Vegas Aces The Las Vegas Aces are an American professional basketball team based in the Las Vegas metropolitan area. The Aces compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the Western Conference. The team plays its home game ...

National team career

George plays center for the

. She was a member of the 2008 Opals squad. In late March, early April 2008, she participated in a week long training camp with the national team in Canberra. In 2008, she had her first Opals cap in a game against

New Zealand women's national basketball team The New Zealand women's national basketball team represents New Zealand in international Women's basketball, basketball competitions. They are nicknamed the Tall Ferns. The team has been coached by Guy Molloy since 2018. The New Zealand women' ...

. She was a member of the 2009 Opals squad. She was a member of the 2011 Opals squad and, as a member of the team, she earned a gold medal at the FIBA Oceania Championship. In June 2011, she participated in a national team training camp in Canberra. In late July 2011, she played in a three-game test series against China played in Queensland. She was scheduled to participate in the national team training camp held from 14 to 18 May 2012 at the Australian Institute of Sport. George has also played for Australia's age restricted national sides. She has 31 caps for Australia's junior national team and 14 appearances for the Young Australia team. In 2006, as a member of the Gems, she participated in the Taipei hosted William Jones Cup. In 2006, she was a member of Australia's Under-21 national team, the Sapphires. As a member of the Australian team at the 2007 FIBA U19 World Championship for Women, she finished fifth. She averaged 12.1 points and 7.1 rebounds per game in the competition. In the first-round game against Brazil, she scored 20 points, and went three for three in three-point range. She also had 10 rebounds in the game against Brazil. She averaged 21.1 points per game, 7.1 rebounds per game and 0.3 assists per game. She played 204 minutes in 9 games. She made 43 out of 99 attempted field goals. She was 14/16 at the free throw line. She had 20 offensive rebounds and 44 defensive rebounds. George earned a silver medal at the 2007 FIBA World Championship for Under 21 Women held in Moscow. At the 2007 FIBA U21 World Championship for Women, she averaged 8.6 points per game, 7.6 rebounds per game and 0.5 assists per game. In the competition, she wore number 11. In 2011, she represented Australia at the World University Games. George played for the Opals at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. They lost to the United States in the quarter-finals. In May 2025, George was named in the Opals squad for the 2025 FIBA Women's Asia Cup in China.

Career statistics

WNBA

Regular season

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2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

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2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

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2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

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Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

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Playoffs

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References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:George, Cayla 1989 births Living people Adelaide Lightning players Australian expatriate basketball people in France Australian expatriate basketball people in Hungary Australian expatriate basketball people in the United States Australian Institute of Sport basketball (WNBL) players Australian women's basketball players Basketball players at the 2016 Summer Olympics Basketball players at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Basketball players at the 2020 Summer Olympics Centers (basketball) Commonwealth Games gold medallists in basketball Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Australia Connecticut Sun players Forwards (basketball) Las Vegas Aces players Logan Thunder players Olympic basketball players for Australia People from Mount Barker, South Australia Phoenix Mercury players Sportswomen from South Australia Townsville Fire players FISU World University Games bronze medalists for Australia Summer World University Games medalists in basketball Women's National Basketball League players Medallists at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Australian expatriate basketball people in Taiwan Cathay Life Tigers players Basketball players at the 2024 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2024 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for Australia Olympic medalists in basketball 21st-century Australian sportswomen

Early life

Playing career

WNBL

WNBA

National team career

Career statistics

WNBA

Regular season

Playoffs

See also

References

External links