08/31/26 10:38:00
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08/31 10:36 CDT US stars A'ja Wilson and Kelsey Plum to miss the FIBA Women's
World Cup
US stars A'ja Wilson and Kelsey Plum to miss the FIBA Women's World Cup
By DOUG FEINBERG
AP Basketball Writer
A'ja Wilson and Kelsey Plum will miss the FIBA Women's World Cup for health
reasons and will be replaced by Washington teammates Kiki Iriafen and Sonia
Citron, USA Basketball announced Monday.
Wilson, the four-time WNBA MVP, has shouldered quite a workload in the first
part of the season for the Las Vegas Aces and needed a break to rest and get
ready for the playoffs. She was voted the most outstanding player of the 2024
Paris Olympics and the 2022 World Cup. She will be sorely missed by the United
States.
Plum has been dealing with a calf injury for most of the WNBA season and it
still hasn't 100% healed. She was a catalyst in the Paris Games gold-medal
contest against France and sparked the Americans to the one-point victory.
In a statement posted Monday to Instagram, Plum said: "I did everything I could
to be back on the court, but just ran out of time. After careful consideration
and conversations with my family, team doctors, coaching staff, and front
office, the decision has been made to shut it down through (the) remainder of
the season and focus on getting my body back to 100% ... This is not an easy
decision as I love to compete, but I know it's the right one for the long term."
Iriafen and Citron were both part of U.S. camps this past winter. Iriafen
played on the American team that went to Puerto Rico and won the World Cup
qualifier. Citron had to miss that tournament because of an injury, so she'll
be making her national team debut in Germany.
The Americans have won every World Cup since finishing with the bronze medal in
2006. That World Cup saw American star Lisa Leslie pull out at the last minute
because of a car accident that her uncle was in. Without her, the U.S. fell to
Russia in the semifinals.
Without the two veteran players, the U.S. will rely even more heavily on its
youth movement. Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese and Paige Bueckers will make their
World Cup debut. The young stars will be joined by Olympic medalists Breanna
Stewart, Napheesa Collier, Chelsea Gray, Jackie Young and Kahleah Copper.
Rhyne Howard and Aliyah Boston will also be making their World Cup debuts to
round out the team.
The U.S. opens against China on Friday. The Chinese team has a huge front line
with 7-foot-3 Zhang Ziyu, 6-10 Han Xu and 6-7 Li Yueru. The two teams played
for the World Cup title in 2022 in Australia.
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AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball
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