Opals Cambage, Kunek bury the hatchet

Opals teammates Liz Cambage and Alice Kunek have spent the past few weeks training together ahead of next week's first pre-Olympic camp in Canberra.

Liz Cambage and Alice Kunek have quietly buried the hatchet ahead of the Australian women's basketball team's first pre-Olympic camp in Canberra next week.

The public spat that erupted after Cambage took to Twitter to express her outrage over Kunek's "blackface" fancy dress at an end-of-season WNBL party threatened to derail the Opals' bid for a sixth consecutive Games medal in Rio.

But Opals coach Brendan Joyce says the pair have sorted out their differences while completing a running program together over the past few weeks in Melbourne, along with teammate Rachel Jarry.

It followed meetings with both Cambage and Kunek, and their managers.

"(We) recognised that they needed to do some basketball-related activities together so we kept things as normal," Joyce told AAP.

"They're professional enough. They've been high-fiving at their individual sessions and doing the running program - I've got video of it. They've been in discussion and had conversations.

"Everything's going really well and I'm excited about getting everybody together under the Opals umbrella at the Centre of Excellence and getting the campaign rolling for this year."

Among other things, Joyce will be talking to the squad about use of social media following the drama.

"We planned on doing that anyway, but we've got some examples to talk about it now and make sure we get that right before the Olympics," he added.

"The lesson here for everybody is what's acceptable today and what's not acceptable, and how we communicate.

"I think the strength of our team chemistry and strength of our culture has helped us manage it and deal with it, but it's also raised some issues for us to talk about."

A total of 18 players will attend the camp from Tuesday, while a further six players are either injured or unavailable.

Among them is basketball legend Lauren Jackson, who is in doubt to play at her fifth Olympics following successive knee surgeries.

Joyce said Jackson will undergo some testing on Monday, after which he'll have a clearer understanding about her availability.

"I'll get confirmation right before the camp, probably Monday or Tuesday morning," he said.

"I don't expect her to practice. It's just (to see) how she's going."

The Opals have a packed pre-Olympic schedule with four camps and tours of Japan and Europe.


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Source: AAP


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Opals Cambage, Kunek bury the hatchet | SBS News