{"id":598775,"date":"2026-04-22T02:43:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-22T02:43:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/598775\/"},"modified":"2026-04-22T02:43:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T02:43:10","slug":"lynxs-napheesa-collier-out-until-june-following-successful-ankle-surgery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/598775\/","title":{"rendered":"Lynx\u2019s Napheesa Collier out until June following \u2018successful\u2019 ankle surgery"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"DiJonai<\/p>\n

Napheesa Collier’s ankle injury cost her the end of the 2025 WNBA semifinals and the entire 2026 Unrivaled season. Christian Petersen \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n

April 21, 2026Updated 9:37 pm EDT<\/p>\n

Minnesota Lynx forward and five-time WNBA All-Star Napheesa Collier will be out until at least June as she recovers from a successful surgery on her left ankle, the team announced<\/a> Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Collier underwent the procedure on March 24, and the Lynx\u2019s statement said her rehabilitation is \u201cprogressing as expected.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ankle injuries plagued Collier throughout the 2025 WNBA season. She sprained her right ankle during an Aug. 2 win over the Las Vegas Aces before returning on Aug. 24. She played the rest of the season despite the injury.<\/p>\n

Just over a month later, on Sept. 27, Collier went down<\/a> clutching her left ankle after colliding with the Phoenix Mercury\u2019s Alyssa Thomas in Game 3 of the WNBA semifinals. She was unable to return for the game\u2019s closing moments, and the team later said she tore three ligaments in her ankle and a muscle in her shin.<\/p>\n

Though she initially said in December that her left ankle would not require surgery, that prognosis changed in January<\/a>. She has since undergone multiple procedures to repair the damage, and a June return would fit within the projected four-to-six-month timeline.<\/p>\n

The two-time Olympic gold medalist and four-time All-WNBA player re-signed with Minnesota<\/a> on a one-year, $1.4 million supermax deal Thursday, a source confirmed to The Athletic. Collier has been with the organization since it selected her with the No. 6 pick in the 2019 draft.<\/p>\n

Alongside the New York Liberty\u2019s Breanna Stewart, Collier is a co-founder of the 3-on-3 women\u2019s basketball league Unrivaled. The left ankle injury forced her to miss the upstart league\u2019s entire 2026 season, its second since its formation. When healthy, Collier has played for the Lunar Owls BC, and she was the inaugural Unrivaled MVP in 2025.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Annie Costabile contributed to this story.<\/p>\n

\"Connections:\"Connections:<\/p>\n

Apr 22, 2026<\/p>\n

Connections: Sports Edition<\/p>\n

Spot the pattern. Connect the terms<\/p>\n

Find the hidden link between sports terms<\/p>\n

Play today’s puzzle<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Napheesa Collier’s ankle injury cost her the end of the 2025 WNBA semifinals and the entire 2026 Unrivaled…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":598776,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[1077,99,434],"class_list":{"0":"post-598775","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wnba","8":"tag-minnesota-lynx","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-wnba"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/598775","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=598775"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/598775\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/598776"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=598775"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=598775"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=598775"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}