Selected with Pick No.8 by the Chicago Sky in last month’s WNBA draft, the 19-year-old landed in the US just two weeks ago, after VISA issues delayed her move Stateside, and has hit the ground running.
Last weekend, she made her WNBA debut playing five minutes during the Sky’s 93-85 loss to a New York Liberty team featuring fellow Aussies Sami Whitcomb and Rebecca Allen.
On Saturday, Heal and the Sky take on the LA Sparks with the game live and free on SBS Viceland from 10am.
“It’s gone so fast, I’ve been here two weeks,’’ Heal told SBS Sport on Friday.
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“I had to do six negative Covid tests when I got here and couldn’t train, then I had two training sessions before my first game. I hadn’t played in six months since the WNBL Grand Final.
“Coach (James Wade) asked me if I was ready and I said “Yeah, I’m ready” and he said “Sunday. You’re suiting up.”
It was a lifelong dream realised for the point guard whose new teammates have given her the nicknames ‘Rook’ (short for rookie) and ‘Young Pup.’
“I thought perhaps I’d get on late in the game but my name got called out and I took my training top off real quick,’’ Heal laughs.
“Watching the tape back, I didn’t even remember, but the first time I touched the ball I took a shot, watching it back I was like ‘Oh damn, she was too excited!”
“I don’t get nervous too much but I was a bit nervous. It felt surreal, I was like ‘wow I’m really about to play in the WNBA which I’ve been working towards for ages’. I was excited.
“It was a weird feeling that I’d just achieved one of my biggest goals. Now I have achieved that I’ve got to reset my goals and what I’m aiming for and keep moving up.”
In her next game against the Atlanta Dream, Heal scored her first WNBA points – she finished with 3 assists, 2 rebounds and 2 points in 11 minutes - however, it wasn’t with one of her trademark triples.
“It was from two free throws, I haven’t got a field goal yet. When I do that will be exciting.”
Heal loves to learn and improve and has already been soaking up all she can in the opening fortnight of her WNBA career.
“I’m learning so much from Courtney Vandersloot who plays in front of me and is one of the best point guards. I want to keep learning as much as I can from her, getting more minutes and proving myself in the league,’’ she says.
“I feel like I’ve learned so much already in just a week, going through the plays every night.
I’ve got to know everyone’s positions and what everyone does. At the start, I’d pass the ball and say “ball” because I didn’t know everyone’s names.”
