After hugging Sabrina Ionescu following the Atlanta Dream’s semifinal loss, Angel Reese was specifically looking for one face: to say her final goodbye to Rebecca Allen, who was Reese’s teammate in the 2025 season. Reese knew that it would be the last time she would see her former teammate take the court. Hours later, Allen received a retirement message from the WNBA.
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“Thank you, Rebecca Allen. 11 years, countless memories, and a lasting impact on the game. Enjoy your retirement!” the message from the WNBA read on X.
The 33-year-old Australian national was a bridge between the league and international players. A decade later, there are 19 Aussies in the league, and Allen was the bridge for a lot of these players.
Allen is a role model to the 28-year-old Australian Anneli Maley, who also played for the Liberty this season. She watched her idol play in the Women’s National Basketball League (WNBL) for the Bulleen Boomers.
“They said ‘don’t meet your role models’, but I think I got pretty lucky about this one,” Maley said about Allen.
Allen started her career with the Liberty in 2015 and played with the team for the next seven years. Since then, she has played with the Connecticut Sun, Phoenix Mercury and Chicago Sky. This season, she returned to New York and announced her retirement in August.
Rebecca Allen is not changing her mind about retirement
A versatile wing defender and an elite 3-point shooter, Allen can still contribute on a winning team. For a 33-year-old, she has a lot of basketball left. But this wasn’t a sudden change of heart for the Aussie.
“I came into this season just knowing that this is what I wanted for myself, and what I’m really grateful for is that I’ve got this feeling of peace,” Allen said after the semifinal series loss to Atlanta on Friday. “I know I’m going to be emotional in the next few days, but right now I just feel ok.
“This is really what I wanted, in a sense. I wanted to be able to say thank you to the game in my way, and just feel like I’m leaving it in such a peaceful way, so that’s huge.”
Allen’s final season was more involved than she had perhaps anticipated, and it was all circumstantial. With Satou Sabally out with injury, Allen’s time increased in Chris DeMarco’s lineup decisions, and she averaged over 18 minutes a game.
She appeared in 29 games with 12 starts and averaged 5.8 points and 2.6 rebounds while shooting 42% from the field and 40.6% from the 3-point line. During a five-game stretch between Aug. 5-13, Allen scored in double figures in all of those contests while the Liberty went 4-1.
The Liberty honored Allen on Sep. 23, when the team played its last regular season game.
“I’m glad that I had that little spot in the middle of the season,” she said. “I was playing and getting some minutes where I really felt that I took hold of that, and was able to show myself a little bit here.”
Of course the end wasn’t dreamy as any player would want. The series loss to the Dream, and watching her team crash out in the semifinals, is yet to sink in. But she hardly has any complaints about her career. She played her way and exited on her terms.
But what’s next for Rebecca Allen after retirement?
Rebecca Allen reveals her post-retirement plan
Allen has already worked as a commentator in the Melbourne Basketball League (MBL) and was part of the NBL commentary team during the 2024-25 season. She knows the adrenaline rush of being on the court, and perhaps commentary brings her closer to that feeling. Former players like Lisa Leslie, Candace Parker and Chiney Ogwumike chose that path after retirement.
But Allen wants something different. According to the Daily, Allen wanted to be an agent.
“I’d like to be a sports agent. So I’ve been looking at that. I’m someone who’s really passionate about this game, and I just feel that I understand what players want,” Allen said. “I feel like I’m a trusted individual as well, and obviously you’ve got to learn a bit in that.”
Allen appeared in 289 games across her WNBA career, averaging 5.8 points and 2.7 rebounds. She shot 36.1% from the 3-point line. She also appeared in 15 playoff games in her career, averaging 5.7 points and 3.3 rebounds while shooting 43.2% from the field and 39.0% from the 3-point line. She won the WNBL Defensive Player of the Year in 2014, and a year later, she was in the WNBA.