Karlie Samuelson

Bio

Karlie Samuelson represents Great Britain internationally through her English mother, a former England netball international, and played for GB at EuroBasket Women 2019 — but she was born and raised entirely in California, not London as widely (and incorrectly) reported. After roughly 18 short-term and hardship contracts across four different WNBA teams, a full-season deal with the Washington Mystics in 2024, and a 2025 trade to Minnesota cut short by a season-ending foot injury, she signed with the expansion Portland Fire as a free agent in April 2026 — alongside fellow Brit Holly Winterburn.

Beginner Story

Samuelson comes from a basketball family — sister Bonnie played at Stanford, sister Katie Lou starred at UConn and now plays for the Seattle Storm — and her own path ran entirely through elite US high school and Stanford basketball (a 2017 Final Four run, 44.3% from three, second-best in program history) rather than the British system. Going undrafted in 2017 meant years of instability: roughly eighteen separate short-term, hardship, and training-camp contracts across the Sparks, Wings, Storm, and Mercury before her first full-season deal, with Washington in 2024. Overseas, she won titles in Spain and Australia and was EuroCup Finals MVP with the London Lions in 2024. A trade to Minnesota in 2025 ended in a season-ending injury and a further trade to Dallas, where she was waived. Portland gave her a fresh contract in 2026. It's a career built almost entirely on one-year and hardship deals rather than a single big break — and on showing up ready every time one of those short contracts turned into an opportunity.

Videos & Interviews

What People Are Saying

• Samuelson ready to fire for Great Britain in bid to reach new heights — FIBA