The Unrivaled announced Thursday that Napheesa Collier will miss the upcoming Unrivaled season and possibly the start of the WNBA season as she plans to undergo surgery on both ankles. A source familiar with the matter said the surgery is expected to take place next week. Competitor.
The league said her expected recovery time is four to six months, which could extend into the Minnesota Lynx’s season.
advertise
Collier, an All-Star with the Bobcats and a co-founder of Unrivaled, was injured during the 2025 WNBA season. She sprained her right ankle in an Aug. 2 win over the Las Vegas Aces before returning on Aug. 24. She played the remainder of the regular season and nearly the entire playoffs until she tore ligaments in her left ankle and injured her left tibia muscle in the final seconds of Game 3 of Minnesota’s WNBA semifinal loss to the Phoenix Mercury.
Collier said on Dec. 17 that her left ankle did not require surgery and hoped that through rehabilitation, she would be ready for the Unrivaled season, which begins on Jan. 5. After additional testing during Unrivaled’s preseason, her medical team, which included staff from Unrivaled and Lynx, determined she would need multiple surgeries.
WNBA games traditionally begin in mid-May, although ongoing negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement could change the start of the season.
Collier was the front-runner for the WNBA MVP before suffering an ankle injury, but she still finished second in voting for the award despite missing 11 games. The top-seeded Lynx lost in the semifinals, with Collier sitting out Minnesota’s fourth game late in the season.
advertise
Golden State Valkyrie center Temi Fagbenle will replace Collier on the Lunar Owls. Fagbenle spent her WNBA offseason competing in WCBA games in China. Other members of the Moon Owls include Skylar Deakins, Marina Mabrey, Rebecca Allen, Rachel Banham and Aaliyah Edwards.
In addition to her leadership role at Unrivaled, Collier is vice president of the Women’s National Basketball Players Association and a member of its executive committee. The players’ union and the league have continued to exchange proposals in recent weeks, with both sides agreeing on two extensions and setting Jan. 9 as the new deadline.
The Incomparables has expanded by two teams ahead of its second season, which will feature eight teams.
The league, which raised money from a group of investors this fall at a $340 million valuation, will feature a dozen first-time players, including the Los Angeles Sparks’ Kelsey Plumb, the Dallas Wings’ Paige Bueckers, the Indiana Fever’s Kelsey Mitchell, the Connecticut Sun’s Sarnia Rivers, the Golden State Valkyrie’s Veronica Burton, the Washington Mystics’ Sonya Citron and Kiki Iriafin.
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
Minnesota Lynx, WNBA
2026 Sports Media Company