Rhyne Howard suffers 'lower leg injury', status for Olympic 3x3 competition uncertain

Rhyne Howard has flourished in her third year in the WNBA. Even though her team, the Atlanta Dream, isn’t doing so hot with a 6-7 record thus far, Howard has continued to perform at an All-Star level.

Unfortunately, it seems like Howard may be sidelined for some time due to an injury she suffered against the Minnesota Lynx on Wednesday. The Dream described the injury as a “lower leg injury”.

That’s almost never good.

Maybe one glimmer of hope is that it doesn’t appear to be a ligament tear, at least not an obvious one. It looks more like an ankle injury in this particular clip. Fingers crossed it isn’t something like a high ankle sprain, which has an average recovery time of eight weeks or even longer.

Of course, this injury sadly puts Howard’s ability to compete in the Paris Olympics in jeopardy. The extent of the injury is unknown at this time, but you certainly have to question if Howard will be healthy enough to give it a go within a month.

Howard is currently slated to represent the USA in the 3×3 competition, which is scheduled to tip-off on July 30th. Unfortunately, Howard isn’t the only American superstar suffering an untimely injury.

Los Angeles Sparks rookie sensation Cameron Brink, the No. 2 overall pick in this year’s WNBA Draft, was slated to play alongside Howard in Paris for the 3×3 team. Brink tore her ACL earlier this week, ending her season prematurely. Looks like being selected to the 3×3 team is bad luck.

Hopefully, this is just another minor injury for the former Kentucky women’s basketball superstar. We’ll keep our fingers crossed.