As the Storm Physical Therapist, I have the opportunity to work with some of the players who are injured while they rehab to get back to playing. This season, the Storm seems to be battling a curse that started in the off-season when Breanna Stewart's ruptured Achilles which I wrote about here, followed by Sue Bird having a knee surgery that was written up in the Seattle Times here. And the list continues after that. There are articles here about Jordin Canada's injury, which she has returned from, and an article here about Jewell Loyd's ankle injury, and an article here, about Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis injuring her ankle earlier today. What a mess!
But I'm not here to write about the Storm Players' injuries (affter all, there are laws against that). Watching another player getting injured today made me reflective on the woes of the Storm this season and then start looking into the other teams to see how they're faring. There is a site which lists WNBA injuries, here, which I used for the starting point of this research. And so, without further ado, my research findings of injuries from around the WNBA.
ATLANTA:
Angel McCoughtry, a 2x Olympian and WNBA All-Star tore her ACL in August 2018. Based on typical rehab timelines, I'm not really sure why she hasn't made it back to the court by now - this article and this one from last week both say it's due to strength deficits, which would definitely be a reason to delay returning. I previously wrote about Angel here when I saw a video of her rehab in the off-season that I found appalling. I hope things have gotten better for her recovery since they filmed that session. Earlier this season, Tiffany Hayes had an ankle injury that was written about by High Post Hoops here, but she's been playing through it for the past eleven games.
CHICAGO:
Katie Lou Samuelson has missed all but three games with a broken right wrist. I recently read this article about her injury where she was working with my long-time friend and the Sky Strength and Conditioning Coach Ann Crosby about all the cardio "Lou" has been doing while she's been casted, hoping to stay in good shape for when she's cut out of the plaster and allowed to start dribbling again. High Post Hoops also covered Katie Lou and her teammate Jamierra Faulkner who had a knee injury in this article. Faulkner tore her right ACL last July (her left ACL was injured in 2017), and like Angel in Atlanta, appears to have had some complications with her recovery delaying her return to the court.
CONNECTICUT:
Last week, Layshia Clarendon underwent surgery on her ankle, putting her on the injured list for several months. The Sun, the team I worked for from 2007-2010, posted the news here. If she recovers on the fastest timeline for her particular surgical procedure, she might be able to step on the court by the end of the WNBA playoffs. But basically, she's going to be watching a lot of basketball and not playing, which is unfortunate, because she's fun to watch! With Connecticut winning lots of games right now, if they can manage to stay healthy, I think they'll still be playing in September. And they have one of the most experienced (and also long-time friend) Head Athletic Trainers in the WNBA, Rosemary Ragle.
DALLAS:
It bothers me a little bit that pregnancy is included on the injury list - but they also list players who are unavailable to their teams for overseas basketball commitment, so maybe the list should be called "players who won't dress" rather than being an injured list? Anyways, Skylar Diggins-Smith had a baby boy in April and is set on returning to the court this season, but hasn't yet. The team has had so many issues with players being unavailable (Skylar, Glory Johnson in the Eurobasket, and Tayler Hill about to have knee surgery - all listed here) that they were ultimately able to add NCAA WBB Player of the Year Megan Gustafson about three weeks ago. Even USA today had a little blurb about Tayler Hill having surgery here- and they didn't have a single article during the WNBA Finals last year. (At least they had no articles in print - maybe there were some online that I didn't see.) And Dallas has Isabelle Harrison back after suffering two concussions early in the season.
INDIANA:
Victoria Vivians is out with an ACL injury from overseas during the off-season and Natalie Achonwa missed a game or two with a finger injury, but otherwise, I haven't seen anything about Fever injuries.
LAS VEGAS:
Aces center Liz Cambage came in for the season with Achilles tendinitis but has returned to playing. Point guard Sydney Colson also had a concussion in June but has since returned. Another crew that's overwhelmingly staying healthier than most.
LOS ANGELES:
Team Super Star Candace Parker sat out the first several games of the season after a hamstring injury during a pre-season game, but has returned to the team. Alana Beard also missed about a month of the early portion of the season with a leg injury. That's two key players missing the first month of the season - so now that they're getting back into the swing of things, it will be interesting to see if LA can turn some of their early season woes around.
MINNESOTA:
Things got so bad in Minnesota, they were approved TWO roster exemptions so they could add players because they are facing multiple season-ending injuries. Two new players on the roster after more than a third of the season is over is incredibly challenging to teach your basketball system and try to build chemistry. They're having a lot of knee troubles. Karima Christmas-Kelly hurt her knee and underwent surgery two days ago and is listed as out for the rest of the season. Jessica Shepard is also out for the season with an ACL injury and Seimone Augustus has not yet played in a game this season from a May knee surgery - but she is expected to return at some point. Damiris Dantas is also out with a calf injury expected to return in about two weeks. And we don't have to mention the absence of Maya Moore, who is not injured but is pursuing some personal ventures this season... (OK of course I had to mention her)
NEW YORK:
The NY Liberty mostly has personnel issues due to several team members playing overseas, though they'll be returning shortly. Rebecca Allan has a finger injury keeping her sidelined and she did not play against us in Seattle yesterday. New York has had a lot of front office struggles in the news in past years which hopefully are improving now that they have new ownership - so maybe they deserve a break from the injury bug while they try to make positive changes in one of the few remaining cities to have an original WNBA team despite their move away from Madison Square Garden.
PHOENIX:
In my opinion, the greatest basketball player of all time is Diana Taurasi. She's also an exceptional human being. Unfortunately, Diana has been sidelined all season so far following spine surgery, but is tentatively expected to return to the court this week. Sophie Cunningham had back pain two weeks ago that limited her playing and DeWanna Bonner had an ankle injury last week, but both have returned.
WASHINGTON:
Kiara Leslie underwent a meniscus surgery at the end of May with expectations of about 3-4 months of rehab. Kristi Toliver had an injury to her right quad and Aerial Powers had an injury to her left glute, but both have made it back to the court. Superstar Elena Delle Donne has had some lingering issues with her knee since injuring it during the 2018 playoffs, but only missed the earliest games of the season.
I'm sure I missed other injuries.. and the ones listed above are just the ones I found when google searching - which means these are the athletes that missed a game - or many. Having been around teams for so long, it's easy to say that most WNBA players are battling nagging aches and pains and are getting regular treatment - either massage or chiropractic care or acupuncture or just spending time in prehab/rehab with the athletic trainer and strength and conditioning coach. Or in the unlikely event, as I wrote about here, with their physical therapist.
TAKE HOME MESSAGES:
1) The WNBA is experiencing a lot of injuries this season, and reviewing these articles, they're not just small injuries like ankle sprains removing athletes from 1-2 games. These are surgical interventions and months-long rehabilitations including year-long recoveries when you consider the Achilles tear for Breanna Stewart and the ACL injuries of Angel McCoughtry and so many others.
2) It's really hard to know if this rate of injuries and the number of "severe" injuries is more than previous years or not. It looks to me like it's definitely more, at least here in Seattle. But, from what I've learned in the past two years having had discussions with league representatives about my interest in researching WNBA injuries is that the system by which the league collects injury data has not been monitored or really enforced in many of the previous seasons and there isn't anyone with access who can put this information together into a report. I don't have access. Teams have to submit their injuries. Some teams are really good about it. Others are less diligent. In my dream world, I'd be taking the data from all the WNBA seasons with injury information in the past and I'd be analyzing it to see what kinds of trends can be identified to try to help with injury prevention programs at the youth, high school, and collegiate levels, with particular focuse on female athletes, but it certainly would not hurt males. I'd also be working to compare it to the NBA because their work conditions and medical equipment and support staff limitations are so different, it would be interesting to see if any correlations could be found. Someday I'll figure out how to take this project on and develop meaningful data that can be used to help future WNBA players - and elevate the world of women's sports. Someday.
3) How awesome is it that there are so many more news sources reporting on the WNBA!?!?!?! LOVE THIS! CBS Sports even posted this article about the Connecticut Sun soaring while all the other teams are figuring out how to deal with their injuries.
4) There are a lot of former UConn Huskies on this injury list... and while that probably isn't relevant, it is apparent. Maybe that's because there are so many in the WNBA - or it could be several other reasons. I won't try to suggest what it could be, but watching UConn basketball players getting injured in college and the WNBA is what drove me to go to PT School in the first place. I'm feeling a little disheartened that there hasn't been enough progress in injury prevention in these athletes, and potentially we're doing worse in the WNBA.
5) When the Seattle Storm won the championship last season, many of the medical providers felt that the WNBA season is a marathon - not a sprint - and that the team with the least severe and least number of injuries during the season would be the last team standing. This is part of the game in all sports. But I'd prefer it if the last team standing, hoisting that awesome WNBA Championship trophy overhead, was the one who had the most talented basketball players with the best chemistry and showed us all how beautiful this game really can be.
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