Napheesa Collier will be sidelined for four to six months after doctors determined that she needs to undergo surgery on both ankles, Unrivaled announced Thursday. Collier, who co-founded Unrivaled alongside Breanna Stewart, will not play in the 3-on-3 league’s second season. She could also miss the start of the 2026 WNBA season depending on how her rehab goes and when (or if) the WNBA returns to the court this spring. 

Per ESPN, Collier will have surgery in New York during the first week of January. Collier was named MVP of Unrivaled’s inaugural season in 2025, and her absence will be a major blow to the upstart league, which tips off its second season on Jan. 5. 

“I am heartbroken to share that I will miss this Unrivaled season. 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,” Collier, who plays for the Lunar Owls BC in Unrivaled, said in a statement on Instagram. “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.”

In Collier’s absence, Golden State Valkyries center Temi Fágbénlé will join the Owls for the 2026 season to play alongside Aaliyah Edwards, Rebecca Allen, Skylar Diggins, Marina Mabrey and Rachel Banham.  Unrivaled announced on Thursday that Fágbénlé signed a multiyear contract with the league.

Collier dealt with significant ankle problems during the 2025 WNBA season, which ended in disastrous fashion for both her and the Minnesota Lynx. 

On Aug. 2, late in the third quarter of the Lynx’s blowout win over the Las Vegas Aces, Collier sprained her right ankle on a fastbreak with the team leading by 43 points. She would miss the next three weeks and played in just seven of the Lynx’s final 15 games. At the time of the injury, Collier was far and away the MVP favorite, but her long-term absence contributed to her falling short in the MVP voting to Aces star A’ja Wilson, who won the award for the fourth time. 

With less than a minute to play in Game 3 of the Lynx’s semifinal playoff series against the Phoenix Mercury, Collier tore three ligaments in her left ankle and a muscle in her left shin during a controversial collision with Alyssa Thomas. The Lynx, who went 34-10 to tie the single-season wins record and were the favorites to win the title, were eliminated in Game 4 while Collier watched from the sideline. 

During her Unrivaled media day session on Dec. 16, Collier told reporters that she would not need surgery for her ankle issues, but was “still working to get back to 100%.” Eventually, doctors determined that rehab would not be enough, and she will now go the surgical route. In retrospect, it may have been better for her to get the procedures shortly after the 2025 WNBA season came to a close in October. 

She is a WNBA free agent, along with nearly every other veteran, but is widely expected to return to the Lynx whenever the WNBA and the Women’s National Basketball Players Association come to terms on a new collective bargaining agreement. Collier is also a vice president in the WNBPA and has been at the forefront of the negotiations. 

If the two sides are able to get a deal done — the new CBA deadline is Jan. 9, though it has already been pushed back twice and could be extended again — and the 2026 WNBA season starts on time in mid-May, Collier could miss the beginning of the campaign. Her four-to-six-month timeline is very broad, though, and it’s possible she could be back in time for opening night.Â