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Mechelle VoepelespnW.com
WNBA player Breanna Stewart of the Seattle Storm is expected to miss the 2019 WNBA season after breaking the right Achilles tendon in Europe, she said Wednesday on Twitter.
Stewart, 24, who plays for Russia-based Dynamo Kursk, was injured Sunday in the EuroLeague Final Four championship game in Sopron, Hungary. She spent an MRI Monday in Los Angeles after returning from Europe, and the results were not reviewed by a doctor until Wednesday.
"First of all, I just want to thank you for the tremendous amount of love and support I've received in recent days," Stewart said in his announcement. "The situation remains a shock for me … This year has been particularly beautiful and successful and, as we all know, there are ups and downs throughout the career.
"It's just another hurdle I'm going to overcome, I'm grateful to have so many people in my corner to help me every step of the way, I feel every possible emotion at this point, but I know just that the rebound will be real and I'll be back better than ever. "
– Breanna Stewart (@breannastewart) April 17, 2019
Stewart will undergo surgery to be performed by Dr. Neal ElAttrache of the Kerlan-Jobe Orthopedic Clinic. The storm said Stewart should fully recover for the start of the 2020 season.
"This is a difficult time for Stewie and we are wholeheartedly with her," said Alisha Valavanis, CEO of Storm, in a statement. "The Storm family is behind her and we will support Stewie in every way possible when she begins her journey back to court."
Stewart drove The Storm to the third WNBA title of the franchise last September and then helped the US to win the gold medal at the FIBA Women's World Cup later in the same month . She has been a top player in the WNBA and World Cup finals. Last month, she was also named MVP of the EuroLeague regular season.
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Stewart has also played for the United States at the 2016 Olympics and should still be a key part of the 2020 Olympic team. As a rule of thumb, rehab for an Achilles tendon injury lasts nine months at one year.
The WNBA's superb Tamika Catchings injured the Achilles tendon on September 3, 2007 and competed in the 2008 Olympics and 25 of the 34 Indiana Fever games in 2008.
Like most WNBA players, Stewart is also competing overseas to maximize his income. Stewart earned $ 56,793 in base salary last season with the storm, earning $ 15,000 as a MVP, $ 11,025 by winning the WNBA title, $ 10,000 as the first All-WNBA team and $ 2,500 as an All-Star Game.
She was to earn $ 64,538 in base salary this season from the WNBA.
In UConn from 2012 to 2016, Stewart won four NCAA titles and was named the best player in the women's final each time. She was part of two unbeaten seasons with the Huskies in 2013-14 and 2015-16 and finished her university career with 2,676 points, 1,179 rebounds and 414 blocked shots.
Stewart, a six-foot-four athlete from Syracuse, New York, was drafted No. 1 by the Storm in April 2016 and was the rookie of the year that season. Last season, her third in the league, she averaged 21.8 points, 8.4 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.4 goals blocked for the Storm during the regular season. His average score increased during the playoffs, averaging 24.6 points. The storm swept the Washington Mystics 3-0 in the finals of the WNBA.
During his WNBA career, Stewart averaged 20.0 points, 8.8 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 1.6 blocks.
Stewart, who is not 25 years old before the month of August, had missed only one match in three seasons in the WNBA. She played her first two seasons overseas in China, then in Russia for 2018-19. Stewart was injured at the knee ligament while she was playing in China in January 2017, but that did not affect her WNBA season that year.
Stewart was injured towards the end of the first half of Sunday while she was trying a deep shot and then suffered a lot. She had to be helped out of the field. Dynamo Kursk fell 91-67 against UMMC Ekaterinburg, who won their fifth title in EuroLeague.
Chicago Sky goaltender Courtney Vandersloot led the UMMC with 18 points, eight rebounds and seven assists, while Brittney Griner of the Phoenix Mercury center added 16 points and 10 rebounds to the winners.
UMMC Ekaterinburg and Dynamo Kursk will meet again in a series of three matches for the championship of the Russian League starting on April 20th. The WNBA season begins May 24th.
The schedule for almost all female players has been a reality since the launch of the WNBA in 1997. Some of the biggest players, including Mercury's Diana Taurasi and Angel McCoughtry of the Atlanta Dream, have interrupted their WNBA season. Generally, players are paid more abroad.
The probable absence of Stewart for the 2019 season is a blow to the Storm, who hoped to become the first team to be redoubled champion of the WNBA since the Los Angeles Sparks in 2001-02. Previous Storm titles were in 2004 and 2010; Leading Sue Bird, 38, was one of three Storm championship teams.
The Storm is not the only team in the WNBA not to be a major star this season. The quadruple champion Minnesota Lynx will not have the best player in 2014, Maya Moore, as Stewart, a UConn graduate and former No. 1 seed (2011). Moore, 29, announced earlier this year that she was starting the 2019 season to devote herself to her other interests and family after eight seasons spent playing in the WNBA and abroad.
And Dallas Wings' center status, Liz Cambage, is uncertain because she has asked for an exchange and may not play if it does not happen. Australian Cambage, world number two behind Moore in 2011, returned to the WNBA last season after a four-year absence. She averaged 23.0 points, the best in the league, per game, as well as 9.7 rebounds and 1.6 blocks.
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