It’s been a difficult season for the Dallas Wings, who hold the WNBA’s third-worst record at 9-26 and have dealt with a myriad of injuries.
The Dallas Wings just keep getting bad news
Center Li Yueru is out for the season with a knee injury, while Arike Ogunbowale is sidelined indefinitely.
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Noa Dalzell is a senior writer covering the WNBA and all of women’s basketball for Breakaway, SB Nation’s women’s sports vertical, as well as the Celtics for CelticsBlog.
On Tuesday, the Wings announced that center Li Yueru was out for the season with an ACL sprain, and that guard Arike Ogunbowale was diagnosed with right knee tendonitis and would be re-evaluated in the coming weeks. Those injuries come after forward Maddy Siegrist missed nearly half the season with a fractured knee, and guard Ty Harris suffered a season-ending knee injury after just five games.
And, two of the team’s biggest offseason acquisitions — last year’s Most Improved Player, DiJonai Carrington, and former No. 2 overall pick NaLyssa Smith — were both traded ahead of the midseason trade deadline after neither found their footing in Dallas.
All of it has resulted in an underwhelming season that has seen fans campaign for the removal of head coach Chris Koclanes.
The bright spot has been guard Paige Bueckers, who has put together a Rookie of the Year campaign, and is leading the team in points (18.8 per game), assists (5.4), steals (1.7), and blocks (0.5). Bueckers has established herself as one of the WNBA’s elite guards and will likely be the cornerstone for Dallas for years to come.
But a playoff push has long felt out of the question, and this week’s injuries are the latest roadblock Koclanes and the Wings will have to overcome. Ogunbowale and Yueru have both been critical members of the Wings’ rotation, and both could be sidelined for the team’s remaining 9 games.
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