Storm's Ezi Magbegor out 6-8 weeks with right foot injury — Seattle's frontcourt down its best player to start the year

Brutal start to the year in Seattle. Storm forward Ezi Magbegor will miss six to eight weeks with a right foot injury suffered while playing for Australia at the 2026 FIBA Basketball World Cup qualifiers in Istanbul. The injury hit three games into the qualifiers; she missed the Opals' final two games and now misses the front of Seattle's season.

Context for how bad this is: Seattle lost its top five scorers from last season in free agency. Skylar Diggins is the new face of the franchise, but Magbegor was the one returning piece — All-WNBA defense, the rim protector, the second-best Storm player. With her down, the rebuild around Diggins, Dominique Malonga, and a haul of new vets becomes a much rougher climb.

Malonga is doing what she can. The 19-year-old Frenchwoman went for 21 points and 8 boards in last night's opener and became the youngest player in WNBA history to reach 200 career rebounds. But she's a sophomore being asked to anchor a rebuild because the All-Star is in a walking boot. Storm fell to 0-1 in the opener, and the next 6-8 weeks are about hanging on until Magbegor's back.