14
Mar
Breaking News
'I'm ready to show them what I've got': Shyla Heal signs training camp contract with Mercury
Sydney point guard Shyla Heal, 23, has signed a 2025 training camp contract with storied WNBA franchise Phoenix Mercury. Photo: Brett Hemmings/Getty Images
Shyla Heal has opportunity to become 14th Australian in WNBA 2025
- Sydney-born Shyla Heal signs WNBA training camp contract
- Heal averaged 17.6 points per game, 3.2 rebounds and 4.1 assists in Turkey
- She was drafted by the Chicago Sky with the eighth pick in 2021
Australian point guard Shyla Heal, 23, has signed a training camp contract with WNBA franchise Phoenix Mercury.
WNBL champion Heal and Australian Opal could become the 14th Australian in the WNBA in 2025.
"I'm really excited to have this opportunity with the Phoenix Mercury!" she said.
"I am so much more experienced and ready now, than I was three years ago when I got drafted.
"So I’m ready to go in and show them what I’ve got!"
Heal was drafted by the Chicago Sky with the eighth pick in the 2021 WNBA Draft. The Sydney-born star only played four games with the Sky before being traded to the Dallas Wings only to be waived.
She tore it up for Turkish Women's Basketball Super League club Tarsus Belediyesi Mersin in season 2024-25 with an average 17.6 points per game, 3.2 rebounds and 4.1 assists while dropping the second most threes in one of Europe's toughest domestic leagues.
The WNBA 2025 training camp contract comes on the back of Heal's rock-solid pers and shooting clip, hitting 45.2% from two-point range, 39.2% from three, and an outstanding 87.2% from the free-throw line.
Her best offensive performance came on March 1, 2025, when she dropped 34 points, hitting six threes. She also had multiple 20+ point games, emphasising her ability to take over ball games.
Heal, who won the 2023 WNBL championship with the Townsville Fire, is an elite scorer and pure shooter. She averaged 31.5 points per game, 4.1 assists and 6.9 rebounds for NBL1 East Conference club Sydney Comets last season before jetting to Turkey.
Heal's ability to score the ball were on full display for the Comets in 2024 — on the weekend of July 5 and 6, Heal dropped back-to-back 50s on the road, first at Penrith (51) then in Canberra against the Nationals (52). She went a combined 33-from-61 from the field, including 16-30 from three.
Heal made her debut for the Australian Opals at the World Cup Qualifiers in 2022 and has represented the Gems and Sapphires at the Under-19 and Under-17 World Cups.
Shyla Heal playing career
- 2015: South West Metro Pirates
- 2015–2016: South East Queensland Stars
- 2016: Ipswich Force
- 2017–2019: Sutherland Sharks
- 2018: BA Centre of Excellence
- 2018–2019: Perth Lynx
- 2019: Rockhampton Cyclones
- 2019–2020: Bendigo Spirit
- 2020: Townsville Fire
- 2021: Chicago Sky
- 2021–2023: Sydney Flames
- 2022: Northside Wizards
- 2023: Townsville Fire
- 2023–2024: Sydney Comets
- 2023: AZS UMCS Lublin
- 2024: Hapoel Petah Tikva
- 2024: ASVEL Féminin
- 2024–present Tarsus Belediyesi Mersin
About the Author
Peter Brown is the head coach of the Sydney Comets Women’s Youth League team in the Waratah Basketball League in NSW. He is also the assistant coach for the Comets NBL1 women’s team in the NBL1 East Conference. Peter is a 30-year journalist, starting as a sports reporter at the NT News in the early 1990s. He played junior basketball for the Northern Territory at national championships from U16 to U20 and for the Territory’s senior men’s team at numerous international tournaments. Peter has been a basketball fan since the early 80s, especially the NBA. Basketball is his passion — and his opinions his own. Email peter.brown@basketball.com.au with feedback. Any email feedback on articles sent to Peter can be published on basketball.com.au for others to read.
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