South Carolina’s veteran player, Kamilla Cardoso, led the Gamecocks to two back-to-back national championship titles before she went on her way to be the 3rd overall draft pick by the Chicago Sky. But before that, she was a Gamecock, an important part of Dawn Staley’s determined squad. Hence, her departure did leave her former teammates missing her. Fast forward to the Chicago Sky’s preseason game against the Minnesota Lynx, Cardoso set her feet on the court for the first time as a pro. Well, it was only fair for her teammates to miss out on their former teammate when she was about to make her very first impact in the league.

Soon after the game, Cardoso’s former teammates, each to their own, showered their emotions on social media as they missed her and wished her to come back. Chloe Kitts wrote, “Come back, I miss u,” while Te-Hina Paopao wrote, “Killaaaaaa,” on Cardoso’s slick moves. At last, Bree Hall took it to another level saying, “Alright bro come put a gamecock jersey on.” However, the excitement and celebration were short-lived as Cardoso ended up sustaining a painful injury on her shoulder.

Kamilla Cardoso’s injury as a WNBA rookie

It hasn’t been the time for the Sky to step into the season, their roster has already started shrinking with players sustaining painful injuries. Kamilla Cardoso sustained an unexpected injury on her shoulder during the Sky’s preseason matchup against the Minnesota Lynx. The Lynx defeated the Sky with an 81-92 score.

As for Cardoso, she will be missing out on the beginning of this year’s WNBA season for an expected 4-6 weeks. Coming off the bench, she played for a good 13 minutes before getting injured. As a result, she could score 6 points and 4 rebounds.

The 2024 Final Four Most Outstanding Player was taken off to the locker room. However, Kamilla Cardoso isn’t the only player sitting out with an injury. As it turns out, Brynna Maxwell too is out with a knee injury and will need a reevaluation in 3-4 weeks, only after that her situation can become transparent.

Two more players on the Sky roster are struck with injuries. Reportedly, Taya Reimer is out due to a concussion protocol and Isabelle Harrison too has a knee injury, therefore, her inclusion on the roster isn’t sure right now.

Having these players out with injuries is bad timing for the Sky as they were to embark on a new era with a portion of this generational class in Kamila Cardoso and Angel Reese. Developing themselves as one of college basketball’s biggest phenomenons last season, Cardoso and Reese were the featured players for the past two seasons.

Meanwhile, a new facade is taking shape on the sidelines as the teams are grinding in the training camp and preseason face-offs.

WNBA is not airing the preseason games?

It looks like the news of record-breaking viewership ratings of the NCAA didn’t reach the WNBA as they are casually ignoring the fact of how much fans admire these young stars. Reportedly, the WNBA didn’t televise the Chicago Sky’s preseason matchup officially. But this didn’t stop the fans from reaching out on the internet as some great minds got together and benefitted, providing around half a million views on the game.

In addition, the league had to face a strong backlash from fans for not doing what these players deserved in the first place. Needless to say, it was a huge disappointment for the fans as they had been eagerly waiting in nail-biting anticipation to see the rookies in trailblazing action.

Taking a ton of horrible clapbacks on their mistake, the league has now made some adjustments to its preseason schedule. The games that were originally omitted from TV coverage, will now be available on the WNBA League Pass subscription app. The team will kick off their season opener against Dallas Wings on May 15th at the College Park Center in Arlington, TX.

Now, taking things on the other side of the road. The league seemed to be struck with the Caitlin Clark effect as her WNBA debut was a masterpiece. She dropped 21 points, 5 3s, and 2 steals, putting things in perspective in the big league. But, what does it say about the league itself? Is it inclining towards favoritism? Many fans are claiming that the league chose to televise Caitlin Clark’s preseason game over Angel Reese and Kamilla Cardoso.

That’s a strong perspective right there. One other thing making it look worse is the fans drawing comparisons on how Caitlin Clark was welcomed by the Fever and Pacers vs. how Angel Reese received a nearly empty gym press conference as her welcome to the team.

All these speculations are getting a lot of wind from fans, and soon they will catch fire if they are left unaddressed. Meanwhile, it is also getting overwhelming for the players, especially the rookies as they are going through a transition and have a lot on their plate to figure out.