Ezi Magbegor suffered a torn ACL in her right knee while playing for Australia in the 2026 FIBA Women's World Cup, the Seattle Storm announced Thursday. Magbegor will miss the remainder of the 2026 WNBA season, which will resume on Sept. 17, and could miss the beginning of the 2027 season depending on how her rehab goes.
The injury concludes a frustrating year for Magbegor, who suffered a foot injury while playing for Australia in the World Cup Qualifying Tournament in Istanbul in March, and missed the first seven weeks of the WNBA season. Shortly after her debut, Magbegor broke a bone in her face and was sidelined for another three weeks.
In between all of the injuries, Magbegor was never able to find a rhythm. In 14 games, she averaged 6.9 points, four rebounds and 1.2 blocks on 39.8% shooting -- the worst marks since her second season in the league. As a result of her injury-shortened campaign, Magbegor's streak of four consecutive All-Defensive Team appearances will come to an end.
If there's a silver lining for Magbegor, it's that she signed a three-year, $3.75 million max contract this offseason, which is guaranteed through the 2028 season.
How did Magbegor's injury happen?
In the first quarter of Australia's dramatic win over Italy in their quarterfinal qualifier on Wednesday, Magbegor took the ball coast-to-coast and drove to the basket against Lorela Cubaj. As she planted her right leg, she took a bump and her knee buckled.
Magbegor hobbled for a few steps before collapsing to the ground and remaining there for a lengthy period under the care of Australia's medical staff. She was eventually helped to her feet and assisted to the locker room.
Without Magbegor, Australia built a 26-point lead, but nearly collapsed down the stretch and escaped with a two-point win when Italy missed a potential game-tying layup at the buzzer.
What does Magbegor's injury mean for the Storm?
In terms of this season, not much.
The rebuilding Storm have the worst record in the league at 8-32, and have just four games remaining when the season resumes next week. They'll lose a few more opportunities for Magbegor to build chemistry with their young core, but that's the only impact on the rest of this campaign.
In terms of 2027 and beyond, it depends on how Magbegor recovers.
ACL injuries aren't as serious as they once were, but they usually still sideline players for 9-12 months. Based on that timeline, Magbegor would miss the beginning of next season, but it will be a while before the Storm announce any sort of official return to play plan. Regardless, Magbegor is not going to be at her best early next summer, and may not get there at all in 2027.
The Storm won't be ready to contend next season, so Magbegor's absence or lessened impact will again not be much of an issue from a results perspective. However, they gave her a three-year max with the hope that she could be an anchor and leader for their young frontcourt, which features recent lottery picks Dominique Malonga and Awa Fam.
Due to Magbegor's injury issues, this has already been a lost season on that front. Magbegor, Malonga and Fam were all healthy and available for just 13 games this season and only played 20 minutes together in a jumbo lineup. Now, instead of being able to hit the ground running in 2027 with all three of them, the Storm will once again lose valuable time to see how those three fit together.
Malonga and Fam are two of the most exciting young bigs in the league, so the Storm's frontcourt will be in a good place for a long time no matter what happens with Magbegor. If the Australian is unable to get back to her All-Defensive best post injuries, however, that would be a real blow to their future.
