Rhyne Howard injury update: Dream star to miss WNBA All-Star Game, remainder of July with knee issue

Atlanta Dream guard Rhyne Howard sustained a left knee injury during Friday’s 99-82 loss to the Indiana Fever and will miss the remainder of July, the team announced. While the team expects her to make a full recovery, it did not provide a timeline for her return. Howard’s absence for the rest of the month means she will miss the WNBA All-Star Game on Saturday, to which she was selected as a reserve.

The WNBA will need to fill Howard’s spot on Team Collier with an injury replacement chosen by commissioner Cathy Englebert. Napheesa Collier selected Howard to her squad in last week’s draft, pitting her against Caitlin Clark and the other half of the All-Star participants.

The injury occurred midway through the second quarter of Friday’s contest when Howard fell to the floor after a rebound attempt. Trainers assisted her off the floor and into the locker room as she struggled to put weight on her left leg.

Howard, the No. 1 pick in the 2022 draft, emerged from the locker room and participated in halftime warmups before she eventually returned to the game. She played 26 minutes, matching the third-highest total among starters despite spending most of the second quarter off the floor. The injury did not limit her production, and she finished the game second on the Dream in scoring with 14 points, nine of which came after her return.

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Jack Maloney

The Dream did not specify Howard’s diagnosis, but her injury is clearly more significant than it appeared when she made her second-half return. Atlanta will be without its second-leading scorer for the duration of her time off the court.

Howard’s All-Star selection was the third of her career and marked a return to the roster after she missed out on a nod last season for the first and only time. The 25-year-old guard clinched a spot in the showcase despite posting a career-low 34.9% field goal percentage over the first half of the season. She made up for the slight dip in scoring (16.5 points per game) with an uptick in rebounds and assists, however, and is on pace to set personal bests in both categories.

Howard has been a staple near the top of the Dream’s statistical leaderboard since her debut in 2022 when she won the WNBA Rookie of the Year award, but she has also yet to play a complete 40-game season. She missed 10 games last year — her most in a single season — with an ankle injury.

Currently 12-9, the Dream hold the fifth-best record in the league.