Ezi Magbegor tears ACL at World Cup, is out for rest of WNBA season: What it implies for the Storm

Basketball

Basketball The injury ends a discouraging 2026 season for the Australian star

Sep 10, 2026

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    Ezi Magbegor suffered a torn ACL in her best knee while betting Australia in the 2026 FIBA Women's World Cup, the Seattle Storm revealed Thursday. Magbegor will miss out on the rest of the 2026 WNBA season, which will resume on Sept. 17, and might miss out on the start of the 2027 season depending upon how her rehabilitation goes.

The injury concludes an aggravating year for Magbegor, who suffered a foot injury while betting Australia worldwide Cup Qualifying Tournament in Istanbul in March, and missed out on the very first 7 weeks of the WNBA season. Quickly after her launching, Magbegor broke a bone in her face and was sidelined for another 3 weeks.

In in between all of the injuries, Magbegor was never ever able to discover a rhythm. In 14 video games, she balanced 6.9 points, 4 rebounds and 1.2 blocks on 39.8% shooting– the worst marks given that her 2nd season in the league. As an outcome of her injury-shortened project, Magbegor’s streak of 4 successive All-Defensive Team looks will concern an end.

If there’s a silver lining for Magbegor, it’s that she signed a three-year, $3.75 million max agreement this offseason, which is ensured through the 2028 season.

Basketball How did Magbegor’s injury take place?

In the very first quarter of Australia’s remarkable win over Italy in their quarterfinal qualifier on Wednesday, Magbegor took the ball coast-to-coast and drove to the basket versus Lorela Cubaj. As she planted her best leg, she took a bump and her knee buckled.

Magbegor hobbled for a couple of actions before collapsing to the ground and staying there for a prolonged duration under the care of Australia’s medical personnel. She was ultimately assisted to her feet and helped to the locker space.

Without Magbegor, Australia developed a 26-point lead, however almost collapsed down the stretch and got away with a two-point win when Italy missed out on a possible game-tying layup at the buzzer.

Basketball What does Magbegor’s injury mean for the Storm?

In regards to this season, very little.

The restoring Storm have the worst record in the league at 8-32, and have simply 4 video games staying when the season resumes next week. They’ll lose a couple of more chances for Magbegor to develop chemistry with their young core, however that’s the only effect on the rest of this project.

In regards to 2027 and beyond, it depends upon how Magbegor recuperates.

ACL injuries aren’t as severe as they as soon as were, however they normally still sideline gamers for 9-12 months. Based upon that timeline, Magbegor would miss out on the start of next season, however it will be a while before the Storm reveal any sort of main go back to play strategy. Regardless, Magbegor is not going to be at her finest early next summer season, and might not arrive at all in 2027.

The Storm will not be prepared to compete next season, so Magbegor’s lack or minimized effect will once again not be much of a concern from an outcomes viewpoint. They provided her a three-year max with the hope that she might be an anchor and leader for their young frontcourt, which includes current lotto chooses Dominique Malonga and Awa Fam.

Due to Magbegor’s injury problems, this has actually currently been a lost season on that front. Magbegor, Malonga and Fam were all healthy and offered for simply 13 video games this season and just played 20 minutes together in a jumbo lineup. Now, rather of having the ability to strike the ground running in 2027 with all 3 of them, the Storm will when again lose important time to see how those 3 meshed.

Malonga and Fam are 2 of the most amazing young bigs in the league, so the Storm’s frontcourt will remain in an excellent location for a long period of time no matter what occurs with Magbegor. If the Australian is not able to return to her All-Defensive finest post injuries, nevertheless, that would be a genuine blow to their future.

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