Lorela Cubaj
| No. 19 – Atlanta Dream | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Position | Forward | ||||||||||||||||||||
| League | WNBA Lega Basket Femminile | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | January 8, 1999 Perugia, Italy | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Listed height | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||||||||||
| High school | Istituto Paritario Giuseppe Parini (Mestre, Italy) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| College |
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| WNBA draft | 2022: 2nd round, 18th overall pick | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Selected by the Seattle Storm | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Playing career | 2015–present | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 2015–2017 | Umana Reyer Venezia | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2022 | New York Liberty | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2022–present | Umana Reyer Venezia | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2023–present | Atlanta Dream | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Medals
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Lorela Cubaj (born January 8, 1999) is an Italian professional basketball player for the Atlanta Dream of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and for Umana Reyer Venezia of the Lega Basket Femminile. She played college basketball at Georgia Tech. She was drafted by the Seattle Storm in the 2022 WNBA draft and played for the New York Liberty in the WNBA. She was waived by the team during her rookie season on July 1, 2022 after playing 11 games.
Playing career[edit]
Early years[edit]
Cubaj started playing basketball when she was 8. She won the Italian U18 championship with Umana Reyer Venezia in the 2016–17 season.[1]
College career[edit]
Cubaj signed with Georgia Tech the summer of 2017.[1] She made the NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen with the Yellow Jackets in 2021, where they were defeated by South Carolina. That match Cubaj scored 15 points and grabbed 7 rebounds.[2]
Professional career[edit]
On April 11, 2022, Cubaj was drafted 18th overall by the Seattle Storm in the 2022 WNBA draft and they traded her draft rights to New York immediately.[3] Cubaj played in 11 games for the Liberty during her rookie season before being waived on July 1, 2022.[4] On 15 June 2022 Cubaj was signed to Umana Reyer Venezia for the 2022–23 LBF season.[5]
Career statistics[edit]
| GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game | RPG | Rebounds per game |
| APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game | BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game |
| TO | Turnovers per game | FG% | Field-goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field-goal percentage | FT% | Free-throw percentage |
| Bold | Career best | ° | League leader |
WNBA Regular Season[edit]
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | TO | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | New York | 11 | 0 | 8.0 | .333 | .000 | .000 | 2.1 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 0.5 | 0.7 |
| 2023 | Atlanta | 3 | 0 | 6.3 | .000 | .000 | .000 | 2.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.0 |
| Career | 2 years, 2 teams | 14 | 0 | 7.6 | .308 | .000 | .000 | 2.1 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 0.6 |
College[edit]
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | TO | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017–18 | Georgia Tech | 34 | 32 | 20.6 | 32.9 | 16.7 | 46.2 | 4.4 | 1.5 | 1.4 | 0.8 | 1.5 | 3.7 |
| 2018–19 | Georgia Tech | 30 | 29 | 28.3 | 40.9 | 25.0 | 50.0 | 7.3 | 2.0 | 1.5 | 1.0 | 2.3 | 7.0 |
| 2019–20 | Georgia Tech | 31 | 30 | 34.2 | 44.9 | 28.0 | 57.8 | 7.7 | 2.5 | 1.2 | 1.2 | 1.9 | 10.0 |
| 2020–21 | Georgia Tech | 26 | 26 | 33.3 | 43.9 | 19.4 | 59.2 | 11.5 | 2.8 | 1.3 | 1.3 | 2.3 | 12.5 |
| 2021–22 | Georgia Tech | 32 | 32 | 33.6 | 42.0 | 17.4 | 67.0 | 11.1 | 4.3 | 1.4 | 1.3 | 2.1 | 10.0 |
| Career | 153 | 149 | 29.7 | 41.7 | 21.3 | 58.4 | 8.3 | 2.6 | 1.3 | 1.1 | 2.0 | 8.5 | |
| Statistics retrieved from Sports-Reference.[6] | |||||||||||||
National Team[edit]
Youth level[edit]
Cubaj won the bronze medal with the Italian team at the U16 European Championship in 2015, averaging 11 points and 6.6 rebounds and being voted to the tournament All-Star Five.[7][8] One year later she won the silver medal with the Italian U17 team, at the 2016 U17 World Championship in Spain. They lost the final against Australia. At the tournament Cubaj averaged 6.1 points and 5.4 rebounds.[9] A few weeks later, she was part of the Italian U18 national team at the U18 European Championship in Hungary and finished seventh place. At the tournament Cubaj averaged 10.4 points and 7.3 rebounds.[10]
References[edit]
- ^ a b "L'orogranata Lorela Cubaj giocherà in NCAA con Georgia Tech". www.legabasketfemminile.it (in Italian). June 1, 2017. Retrieved April 30, 2022.
- ^ "Jackets Fall to South Carolina in NCAA Sweet 16". ramblinwreck.com. March 28, 2021. Retrieved April 30, 2022.
- ^ "Cubaj Selected in WNBA Draft by New York Liberty". ramblinwreck.com. April 11, 2022. Retrieved April 30, 2022.
- ^ New York Liberty [@nyliberty] (July 1, 2022). "Thank you, @LorelaCubaj for your hard work and dedication on and off the court.🗽" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ "UFFICIALE: LORELA CUBAJ TORNA ALL'UMANA REYER". www.reyer.it (in Italian). June 15, 2022. Retrieved September 19, 2022.
- ^ "Lorela Cubaj College Stats". Sports-Reference. Retrieved April 16, 2024.
- ^ "Lorela Cubaj stats at the 2015 U16 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS WOMEN". archive.fiba.com. Retrieved April 30, 2022.
- ^ "Ramos crowned MVP, headlines All-Star Five". FIBA Europe. 23 August 2015. Archived from the original on 26 August 2015. Retrieved 30 April 2022.
- ^ "Lorela Cubaj stats at the 2016 U17 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS WOMEN". fiba.basketball. Retrieved April 30, 2022.
- ^ "Lorela Cubaj stats at the 2016 U18 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS WOMEN". fiba.basketball. Retrieved April 30, 2022.