Minnesota Lynx All-Star Napheesa Collier will miss at least two weeks due to a sprained right ankle sustained Saturday against the Las Vegas Aces, ESPN's Kendra Andrews reports.
Imaging revealed that Collier avoided major injury, according to the report.
Collier suffered the injury in the third quarter of Minnesota's 111-58 win over the Aces. Collier fell to the court after a collision during a Minnesota fast break and wasn't able to get back with her teammates on defense.
Collier needed help from players from both teams to stand up during a break in the action but immediately sat back down on the court, where she received treatment from team trainers.
She eventually walked off the court to the locker room with the aid of a trainer and did not return to the game.
Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve didn't offer a diagnosis after the game and told reporters that hopefully she'll be OK."
News that Collier avoided serious injury is a relief in Minnesota. But an absence of multiple weeks is a tough break for the stretch run of the season as the Lynx look to maintain the best record in the WNBA and the No. 1 seed in the playoffs. It's also a threat to Collier's MVP campaign.
Collier slated to miss multiple high-stakes games amid MVP campaign
A five-time All-Star and three-time All-WNBA selection, Collier is the betting favorite to win MVP this season. The two-week timeframe from Monday projects that she'll miss a minimum of four games and some of the biggest games on the Lynx schedule.
The Lynx are scheduled to play three consecutive games against the reigning champion New York Liberty from Aug. 10-19 in a rematch of the 2024 WNBA Finals. She'd miss two of those games per the two-week time frame and be at risk of missing the third.
Collier will also miss an Aug. 5 game against the 16-13 Seattle Storm, who are in third place in the West. And she'd be at risk of missing an Aug. 21 game against the 18-11 Atlanta Dream, who sit a half-game behind the Liberty for first place in the East.
This story will be updated.
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