Erica McCall was waived by the Atlanta Dream on Wednesday, but she'll be allowed to stay in the WNBA's bubble in Bradenton, Florida, for the time being in case another team wants to sign her. Guard Alex Bentley, who was waived July 22 by the Las Vegas Aces, is also still in the bubble at IMG Academy for the same reason. The WNBA is paying for their living expenses and COVID-19 testing while they remain in the bubble.
The Dream waived McCall to activate fellow forward Glory Johnson, who tested positive for COVID-19 when she arrived at IMG Academy in early July and then went into off-site quarantine. Johnson, who was asymptomatic throughout quarantine, has tested negative twice since, been through cardiac assessment and was cleared to play Wednesday. But Johnson was a late scratch before Wednesday's game against Las Vegas, Dream coach Nicki Collen said, although she did not give a specific reason.
With the time it takes for a player to come in from outside the bubble -- self-quarantining and taking COVID-19 tests before arrival, and then more quarantining and testing once on site -- it makes sense to keep players like McCall and Bentley around in case they are needed, the league decided.
WNBA rosters have a maximum of 12 players. One WNBA player, Minnesota's Karima Christmas-Kelly, already has been lost for the season, which started Saturday, due to injury. She suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon in Tuesday's loss to Seattle.