Candace Parker and Seattle Storm’s Lauren Jackson out indefinitely - WNBA Injury Update
Candace Parker, the face of the Los Angeles Sparks and one of the league’s top players, will miss the next six weeks of the season due to the right knee injury that she received in Sunday’s game against the New York Liberty at
Prudential Center.
Parker suffered from a rolled knee with 5:56 minutes to go in the third quarter when she came down awkwardly after grabbing a defensive rebound. She fell to the ground and stayed there for few minutes, holding her knee in severe
pain. Parker then walked to the locker room with faltering steps and did not return to the floor for the rest of the game.
Prior to the injury, the player recorded her third consecutive double-double with a team-high 16 points and a game-high 11 rebounds in Sparks’ 77-67 defeat to New York.
Speaking about the gravity of the injury, Sparks head Coach Jennifer Gillom said after the game, “Right now we don’t know, we’re going to get her an MRI and we’re just hoping for the best. It’s tough but we’re hoping everything
is alright.”
However, the management and fans got some very bad news on Monday when they learned that Parker had a torn meniscus in her right knee and requires a complete rest for minimum six weeks. Parker had also missed 10 games of the last
season because of a shoulder injury.
Absence of Parker from the floor is a blow not only to her team, but also to the league. The Naperville native is the only player in the history of the league to receive both MVP and Rookie of the Year honours in a single year.
She has averaged 17.7 points and 9.9 rebounds per game in the previous seven games of this season.
The Seattle Storm centre forward Lauren Jackson, on the other hand, is already out of the season for approximately three weeks because of a prominent hip injury. The 30-year-old was hurt late in the second quarter because of her
inadvertent collision with Liz Cambage in Tuesday’s game against the Tulsa Shock. She did not return in the second half.
Storm coach Brian Agler said, "This injury is often treated effectively with rest and physical therapy.” “We are going to rest Lauren for a week before increasing her activity level. At this point, we expect her to be out for a
minimum of three weeks.”
In case of no major improvement, a surgery would be required that could take Jackson 12 more weeks to return to the floor. However, 6 feet 6 Australian player is quite hopeful about her recovery.
Jackson said, “It's really disappointing. I have to try to do everything I can to get my body healed so that I do not have to go through surgery, again. ... I feel positive like everybody else does."
The absence of the three-time league MVP is definitely a huge loss as she is the one who headed Storm last season, when they won the WNBA Championship.
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