Napheesa Collier To Undergo Ankle Surgery, Potentially Missing Start Of WNBA Season

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Minnesota Lynx star Napheesa Collier will undergo surgery on both ankles and faces a four-to-six-month absence, the Unrivaled league said on Thursday. The setback rules Collier out of the entire Unrivaled 2026 season, and the recovery timeline means Collier may also miss the start of the 2026 WNBA campaign.

Unrivaled, a 3-on-3 women’s basketball league co-founded by Collier and fellow WNBA standout Breanna Stewart, is scheduled to open its season on Monday. With Collier unavailable, the league will turn to replacement options, while the Minnesota Lynx and wider WNBA monitor how the surgery and rehabilitation progress.

Over recent months, Collier had focused on rehabilitation for both ankles and targeted a return in time for the Unrivaled season. That plan changed when a joint group of medical staff working with the league assessed the situation and concluded that surgery on each ankle was required rather than continued conservative treatment.

The ankle issues began when Collier sprained the right ankle on August 2, which sidelined Collier for seven games before a return on August 24. Further damage followed on September 26, when Collier sustained ligament tears in the left ankle and a muscle injury in the left shin during the final seconds of Minnesota’s Game 3 semifinal defeat to the Phoenix Mercury.

Collier enters surgery after one of the strongest individual seasons in the WNBA. In 2025, Collier earned All-WNBA First Team honours for the third time, averaging a career-best 22.9 points along with 7.3 rebounds, 1.6 steals and 1.5 blocks, ranking second in scoring, third in steals and fifth in blocks per game.

The 2024 WNBA Defensive Player of the Year also posted elite shooting numbers, hitting 53.1 per cent from the field, 40.3 per cent from three-point range and 90.6 per cent from the free-throw line. That efficiency made Collier the first player in WNBA history to record a 50/40/90 season while averaging at least 20 points, underscoring what will be missing for both Unrivaled and the Minnesota Lynx during recovery.