Lynx wing Kayla McBride suffers soft tissue injury while training in Turkey

Due to a translation error, an earlier version of this article misstated the nature of Kayla McBride’s injury. It was a soft tissue injury that should require seven to 10 days to rehab and not a quad tear that could sideline her past the start of the WNBA season in May.

Minnesota Lynx wing Kayla McBride suffered a minor soft tissue injury during a recent practice with Fenerbahçe in Istanbul, though it should require only seven to 10 days to rehab, a source close to the Lynx confirmed to The Athletic on Thursday.

Kayla McBride’ın sağlık durumu hakkında bilgilendirme

Oyuncumuz Kayla McBride, takımımızın Umana Reyer Venezia maçı yolculuğu öncesi İstanbul’da yaptığı antrenmanda sağ uyluk bölgesinden sakatlık yaşamıştır.

Sporcumuzun Medicana Ataşehir Hastanesi’nde yapılan kontrollerinin… pic.twitter.com/r20P25fIN7

— Fenerbahçe Opet (@fbkadinbasket) January 22, 2026

Like many top players, McBride, a 13-year veteran, is an unrestricted free agent. Last season, she was Minnesota’s second-highest-paid player behind All-Star Napheesa Collier. In 2025, she was a WNBA All-Star for the fifth time and ranked second on the Lynx in per-game scoring, assists and steals.

The Lynx season begins at home against the Atlanta Dream on May 10, two days after the WNBA’s 2026 campaign. The season start date — which is the WNBA’s earliest in its 30 years — could be in jeopardy as the league and the players’ union continue to negotiate for a collective bargaining agreement.

The CBA negotiations have passed two deadlines, and it’s unclear when a deal will be struck, how contracts will change and what these factors mean for teams’ structures.

McBride has been one of the most consistent and productive two-way wings in the league over the past several seasons, earning two of her five All-Star nods in the last two seasons. Among high-volume 3-point shooters in 2025, McBride led the WNBA by making 39.5 percent from beyond the arc. She has played year-round her entire pro career, including playing last offseason in Unrivaled’s first season and with Fenerbahçe.

After playing the first part of her career with the San Antonio Stars and Las Vegas Aces, McBride signed with the Lynx in 2021 under the league’s longest-tenured coach, Cheryl Reeve. McBride has been crucial to Minnesota’s success during that time. The Lynx reached the WNBA Finals in 2024 and the 2025 semifinals. At the end of last season, an emotional McBride said, “In pro sports, it doesn’t get any better than what we have in our locker room.”

But Minnesota’s locker room could look significantly different in 2026, as every rotational player is an unrestricted free agent. In October, The Athletic named McBride as a free agent to watch, noting potential fits with the New York Liberty and Phoenix Mercury.