Nika Muhl to miss entire 2025 WNBA season after ACL injury

Former UConn women’s basketball star Nika Muhl will miss the entire 2025 WNBA season after suffering a torn ACL last October while playing in Europe.

The Seattle Storm placed Muhl on the suspended list, which allows the team to retain her rights while not having her salary count against the cap and roster limit for the season.

WNBA players who are injured while playing overseas can be placed on the suspended list if they will be out for more than six weeks. The move is a setback for Muhl, who was working towards a return at some point this season. Instead, Seattle decided it would rather use the roster spot for a player who will be available from the start, signing veteran guards Lexie Brown, Erica Wheeler and Zia Cooke and drafting guards Serena Sundell, Jordan Hobbs and Madison Conner.

Muhl was chosen with the 14th overall pick in last year’s WNBA Draft, but she had a trying rookie season.

The Croatia native missed the first four games of the Storm’s season while awaiting approval for a work visa to replace the student visa she had at UConn. She then struggled to find her place on the court, averaging just over 3 minutes in 16 games and scoring just one basket, in the final game of the season.

Muhl then went overseas to play with Turkish club Besiktas, but suffered the torn ACL in her first game.