Minnesota Lynx star and Unrivaled co-founder, Napheesa Collier, will undergo surgery on both of her ankles and subsequently miss the next four to six months of competition. The prognosis means she will miss the entire Unrivaled season in Miami and will potentially miss the start of the WNBA season as well.
Unrivaled, the Miami-based 3-on-3 league Collier co-founded with fellow UConn alum Breanna Stewart, announced that “a joint team of medical staff determined that surgery on both left and right ankles would be necessary,” in a Thursday morning press release.
Temi Fagbenle of the Golden State Valkyries will fill Collier’s spot on the Lunar Owls.
Collier sustained injuries to both ankles during the stretch run for the Lynx in 2025. She sprained her right ankle in a game against the Aces in Las Vegas on Aug. 2, which sidelined her for multiple weeks.
Collier returned to the floor and played in seven of Minnesota’s final eight games of the season, helping the Lynx clinch the No. 1 seed by the end of August. She averaged 20.4 points in those games and finished with the league’s second-ever 50/40/90 season in the process.
The Lynx eventually met the Phoenix Mercury in the WNBA semifinals, where Collier tore multiple ligaments in her left ankle in the waning seconds of Game 3. Phoenix eliminated the Lynx in Game 4.
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Collier’s goal was to rehab over the ensuing three months and be ready to play by the time the Unrivaled season tips off on Monday, Jan. 5. Collier participated in Unrivaled’s virtual media days on Dec. 16. The Athletic’s Ben Pickman asked her about her health and the likelihood of getting healthy enough to get back on the floor in January.
“I did not need surgery,” she said. “I am still working to get back to 100%, but I have been doing my rehab every day. It’s gotten way, way better, so I’m just taking it every day at a time and I’m excited to get back out there.”
When asked if she expected to be fully healthy by January, Collier responded, “That’s the goal.”
Per ESPN’s Kendra Andrews, the operations have been “scheduled for the first week of January and will be performed by Dr. Martin O’Malley in New York City, sources said.”
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The news comes as negotiations on a new collective bargaining agreement between the WNBA and the WNBA Players Association, of which Collier is a vice president, rapidly approach the current deadline of Jan. 9. If WNBA teams report to training camp in late April the way they have in recent years, then Collier’s best-case scenario per the provided timeline would see her return to the court sometime during the WNBA preseason.
“I am heartbroken to share that I will miss the Unrivaled season,” Collier said in a statement posted to her Instagram account. “I have fought hard over the last few months to be back with my Owls and was devastated to be told by my team of doctors that surgery was the best path forward. I will still be cheering on my teammates every step of the way, and I will continue to work relentlessly with the rest of the players and our staff to push our sport forward and raise the bar for women’s basketball. I will be back at full strength as soon as possible and ready to continue where I left off, but for now, it’s still and always will be…HootieHoooooo!”
