Magbegor's Torn ACL Ends Her 14-Game Storm Season

Photo: WNBA.com / Seattle Storm. Official league headshot, 1040×760, full head.

Pause it when she plants against Cubaj.

Magbegor tore her right ACL at the FIBA Women's World Cup and is out for the rest of the 2026 WNBA season after playing only 14 games for the Storm.

Four minutes and nine seconds into Australia's qualification final against Italy. Coast to coast. Contested drive. Right knee buckles inward on the plant. She shouts, hits the floor, and leaves on help from the medical staff. FIBA's box has her at 2 points on 1-of-1, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, plus-4 in those 4:09. Basketball Australia's scans confirmed a ruptured ACL that needs surgery and rehab. The Seattle Storm announced Thursday she will miss the remainder of the 2026 WNBA season. The league tips again Sep. 17.

That drive lands on a year that never got a clean stretch. Foot injury at World Cup Qualifying in Istanbul in March. First seven weeks of the WNBA season gone. Debut, then a facial fracture and three more weeks on the shelf. Fourteen games total. 6.9 points, 4.0 rebounds, 1.2 blocks in 20.4 minutes. 39.8 percent from the field. Those are her worst marks since her second season. The four-year All-Defensive streak ends with it. Berlin still got the version that was heating up: 12.3 points and 5.3 rebounds on 60.5 percent shooting across four World Cup games before the Italy plant, including the 21 on 10-of-14 against Türkiye that locked the Final Phase.

Seattle already paid for the long version. April brought a three-year, $3.75 million max extension, $1.25 million a year, fully guaranteed through 2028. The Storm sit 8-32 with four games left after the FIBA break. The bet was Magbegor anchoring lottery bigs Dominique Malonga and Awa Fam. Those three were healthy together for 13 games this season and logged 20 minutes as a jumbo frontcourt. Malonga is in Berlin with France. Fam is in Berlin with Spain. Both keep playing while the player Seattle locked as the veteran hub starts another rehab clock that can eat the early months of 2027.

Photo: FIBA / Basketball Australia assets. Ezi Magbegor #13 Australia during Women's World Cup 2026. Official assets.fiba.basketball still dtxlolxcb0qjhmee63dj, landscape, full head. Never stack with the headshot.

Australia still beat Italy 82-80 with Izzy Borlase's 30 after Magbegor left. Spain closed the Opals 89-66 a day later with Magbegor in the building and Alanna Smith already withdrawn. The Storm get four more regular-season nights without the core they just paid max money to keep. The plant at 4:09 is the possession Seattle has to live with until the next medical line.

Sources

• Basketball Australia: Ezi Magbegor to miss time with injury — right knee vs Italy Qualifying Final; contested drive Q1; helped off, DNP rest; scans confirm ACL rupture; surgery + rehabilitation; Opals statement on character/resilience
• ESPN: Storm's Ezi Magbegor suffers torn ACL — Alexa Philippou; Storm announced Thu; out remainder 2026 WNBA; Q1 Italy; BA surgery; 14 games 6.9/4.0/1.2 blk; foot + facial fracture year; 2023 All-Star 13.8/8.1; April three-year extension; Storm 8-32, four games left; Malonga (FRA) and Fam (ESP) at WC; Magbegor attended Spain QF
• CBS Sports: Magbegor tears ACL, out rest of WNBA season — Jack Maloney; right ACL; Sep 17 resume; Istanbul foot, seven weeks; facial fracture three weeks; 14 games 6.9/4.0/1.2 on 39.8%; All-Defensive streak ends; three-year $3.75M max through 2028; Cubaj contact on plant; Italy nearly erased 26-point lead; Fam/Malonga 13 shared healthy games, 20 jumbo minutes
• FIBA player page: Ezi Magbegor (Australia) — vs ITA 09/09/2026: 4 min, 2 PTS, 1/1 FG, 2 REB, 1 AST, +4, EFF 5; tournament avg 12.3 PTS / 5.3 REB on 60.5% FG (87 min, 49 PTS across 4 games); DNP ESP QF
• Sporting News: Magbegor ACL update — Storm social confirm; 14 games 6.9/4.0 in 20.4 mpg; WC 12.3/5.3 on 61% FG
• Spotrac: Ezi Magbegor contract — 3 yr / $3,750,000; $1,250,000 AAV; fully guaranteed; signed Apr 12, 2026
• AP via ABC News: Germany-Belgium wire — Ciarán Fahey; Magbegor tore right ACL in Italy win; Australia without Magbegor and Smith vs Spain 89-66; Gustafson 16
• Photos: WNBA.com Magbegor 1629496; FIBA still dtxlolxcb0qjhmee63dj