Minnesota Lynx forward Napheesa Collier will undergo surgery on both ankles and is expected to miss the next four-to-six months, according to ESPN’s Kendra Andrews.
That surgery will rule her out for the entire 2026 Unrivaled season — the league she co-founded with Breanna Stewart — and could potentially cause her to miss the start of the WNBA season, pending the resolution of the current labor dispute.
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Golden State Valkyries forward Temi Fágbénlé will replace Collier on the Lunar Owls roster for the upcoming Unrivaled season.
Collier’s ankles have been bothersome since the summer. A right ankle sprain in early August caused her to miss three weeks. In Game 3 of the WNBA semifinals against the Phoenix Mercury, she tore three ligaments in her left ankle.
While dealing with both injuries, Collier was confident she would be healthy enough to take part in the second season of Unrivaled, which begins on Monday. Last month, she told reporters she was “still working to get back to 100%” and that surgery wasn’t going to be needed. But according to an Unrivaled press release on Thursday, a “joint team of medical staff” determined that Collier would need surgery on both ankles.
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The 29-year-old Collier has played seven seasons in the WNBA, all with the Lynx. This past season, she averaged 22.9 points, 7.3 rebounds and 3.2 assists in 33 games as Minnesota finished first overall. The Lynx would win their first-round series against Golden State before falling to the Mercury in the semifinals.
