Wilson, Plum ruled out of FIBA World Cup with injuries — SkimNews
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- A'ja Wilson and Kelsey Plum were ruled out of the FIBA Women's World Cup on Monday due to health issues — Wilson with a back problem that had lingered despite playing through her last two Aces games, and Plum with a lower leg injury that also ends her WNBA season with the Phoenix Mercury.
- Kiki Iriafen and Sonia Citron were announced Monday as Wilson's and Plum's replacements and are already in Berlin with Team USA ahead of Friday's opening group game against China under new head coach Kara Lawson.
- Breanna Stewart, with three Olympic and three World Cup gold medals, now becomes Team USA's most experienced player and the de facto leader on a squad chasing its fifth consecutive World Cup title.
- Paige Bueckers and Caitlin Clark could see expanded minutes with Plum's absence opening guard spots, as eight of the 12 players from March's World Cup Qualifying Tournament roster in Puerto Rico are already on the Berlin squad.
- Aliyah Boston is playing through a right leg injury that has kept her out of some Fever games this season, an additional concern as Team USA opens the World Cup with three games in four days.
- Lisa Leslie's late scratch from the 2006 World Championship led to Team USA's loss to Russia in the semifinals — their only defeat in a major international competition since 1994.
- Kelsey Plum, on a one-year deal in Phoenix after a midseason trade that cost the Mercury a 2027 first-round pick, 2028 second-round pick and Monique Akoa Makani, averaged 26.6 points in her first 10 games of 2026 before the injury; her free agency decision now looms.
Why it matters: Losing Wilson — widely regarded as the best player in the world — leaves Boston (leg injury) and Iriafen as Team USA's only true bigs. The 2006 Leslie precedent shows the U.S. has lost just once in major international competition since 1994, and it happened with a comparable star absent.
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