Napheesa Collier, WNBA star, to have surgery on both ankles: Out for 4 to 6 months

Napheesa Collier to Undergo Surgery and Miss Unrivaled Season

WNBA star Napheesa Collier will undergo surgery on both ankles, which will keep her off the court for four to six months. This situation will force her to miss the upcoming Unrivaled season, the league announced on Thursday. The operations are scheduled for the first week of January and will be performed by Dr. Martin O’Malley in New York City, according to sources close to the matter. Collier suffered ankle injuries during the WNBA season while playing with the Minnesota Lynx. On August 2, she twisted her right ankle against the Las Vegas Aces, which forced her to miss three weeks of play. At that time, she was the favorite to win the league’s MVP award, but ultimately finished in second place, behind A’ja Wilson of the Las Vegas Aces, for the second consecutive year. In September, Collier suffered a tear of three ligaments in her left ankle during the third game of the WNBA semifinals against the Phoenix Mercury. The Lynx, who were the top seeds, lost the series in four games. Collier had expressed his confidence in being able to recover from the injuries in time for the start of Unrivaled, the 3-on-3 league he co-founded with New York Liberty star Breanna Stewart, which begins its second season on Monday. During a virtual press conference for the league on December 16, Collier said he did not need surgery, but that he “was still working to get back to 100%”. He added that his rehabilitation was improving every day and that he planned to be healthy enough to play in January. However, after further consultation with a joint medical team in Miami and Minnesota, it was determined that his recovery should have progressed further at this point and that surgery would be necessary.

“It breaks my heart to share that I will miss this season of Unrivaled,” Collier said in a statement on Instagram. “I have fought hard in the last few months to return to my (Lunar) Owls and I was devastated that my medical team told me that surgery was the best path forward.”

Napheesa Collier

Golden State Valkyries forward Temi Fagbenle will take her place on the Lunar Owls BC roster for Unrivaled.