US stars A'ja Wilson and Kelsey Plum will miss the FIBA Women's World Cup for health reasons and will be replaced by Washington teammates Kiki Iriafen and Sonia Citron, USA Basketball announced Monday, reports infohub.kz.
Wilson, the four-time WNBA MVP, has shouldered a heavy workload in the first part of the season for the Las Vegas Aces and needed a break to rest and get ready for the playoffs. She was voted the most outstanding player of the 2024 Paris Olympics and the 2022 World Cup. Her absence is a big loss for the US team.
Plum has been dealing with a calf injury for most of the WNBA season and it still hasn't fully healed. She was a catalyst in the Paris Games gold-medal contest against France, sparking the Americans to a one-point victory.
Iriafen and Citron were both part of US camps this past winter. Iriafen played on the American team that went to Puerto Rico and won the World Cup qualifier. Citron had to miss that tournament due to injury, so she will be making her national team debut in Germany.
The Americans have won every World Cup since finishing with the bronze medal in 2006. That World Cup saw American star Lisa Leslie pull out at the last minute because of a car accident involving her uncle. Without her, the US fell to Russia in the semifinals.
Without the two veteran players, the US will rely even more heavily on its youth movement. Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese and Paige Bueckers will make their World Cup debuts. They will be joined by Olympic medalists Breanna Stewart, Napheesa Collier, Chelsea Gray, Jackie Young and Kahleah Copper.
Rhyne Howard and Aliyah Boston will also be making their World Cup debuts to round out the team.
The US opens against China on Friday. The Chinese team has a huge front line with 7-foot-3 Zhang Ziyu, 6-10 Han Xu and 6-7 Li Yueru. The two teams played for the World Cup title in 2022 in Australia.