Concussions In The Wnba Are On The Rise. But Why?

Ariel Atkins’ caput whipped back. After taking an elbow from Indiana’s Monique Billings connected May 13, the Sparks’ squad doctors spotted nan imaginable for a caput wounded and sent her to nan locker room.

It was nan 2nd concussion of her career, but she didn’t cognize that astatine nan time. All she knew was that her caput hurt.

“You conscionable don’t consciousness for illustration yourself,” Atkins said. “It’s difficult to moreover beryllium a portion of society. Luckily, this wasn’t a superior one.”

There person been 8 diagnosed concussions successful the WNBA already this twelvemonth aft conscionable a 4th of nan season. There were 8 full successful 2025, 4 successful 2024 and six successful 2023.

The “why” could beryllium bad luck, amended consciousness successful diagnosing concussions aliases thing else. Atkins thought nan lack of crippled flow because of caller officiating standards mightiness beryllium making things harder.

“You would deliberation it should beryllium down,” Atkins said. “Maybe location is nary hit erstwhile location are stoppages.”

Atkins sewage deed successful nan chemoreceptor against nan Wings 3 weeks aft returning from her concussion. She stayed successful nan crippled aft a speedy cheque connected nan bench.

She didn’t person a concussion that time, but players do look to beryllium getting deed successful nan caput astatine a higher rate. Minnesota-based sports intelligence Lucas Seehafer thinks it’s excessively early to make a definitive declaration of why that is happening.

“Some players and coaches successful nan past person talked astir nan physicality of nan play,” he said. “I cognize immoderate group person talked astir really nan rules are benignant of lax, aliases you’re possibly not arsenic rigorous arsenic what they could beryllium successful position of for illustration punishing blows supra nan shoulders and that benignant of stuff. But it’s reliable to opportunity pinch immoderate certainty until we get much data.”

On opening nighttime successful Seattle, Golden State guardant Cecilia Zandalasini suffered her first concussion erstwhile elbowed by nan Storm’s Zia Cooke.

She called nan process to return a “nightmare.”

“It was truthful weird pinch nan emotion of ever having a headache,” she said. “I had to hold until it was gone, I couldn’t move.”

Valkyries guardant Cecilia Zandalasini called moving done concussion protocal a “nightmare” earlier this season.

(Ellen Schmidt / Getty Images)

Seehafer said that erstwhile it comes to women’s sports, lucky and shot person a estimation for having higher concussion rates, but hoops tin beryllium conscionable arsenic physical.

“Compared to nan remainder of nan [pro sports] leagues, nan WNBA is beautiful overmuch doing precisely what nan different leagues are doing, but again, is that enough?” he said. “It’s reliable to say. I would opportunity they’re not, but I don’t deliberation they’re egregiously leaving athletes unfastened to moreover much terrible injuries, necessarily. My bias is conscionable that everything tin beryllium safer.”

The WNBA follows nan aforesaid concussion protocol arsenic nan NBA, by which a subordinate must acquisition a locker room information aft getting deed successful nan head. If nan subordinate is cleared by aesculapian staff, they tin return to nan game.

Any subordinate showing concussion-related symptoms, specified arsenic a headache aliases dizziness, must beryllium monitored for 24 hours by nan team’s aesculapian staff. Once they are symptom-free, they spell done a scope of activities from ray beingness activity to full-contact practice. They must enactment symptom-free passim that full process to beryllium allowed backmost into games.

“Back erstwhile I played, I didn’t cognize what concussion meant,” said Sparks coach Lynne Roberts. “I deliberation now we understand nan subject of really superior it is, and we don’t unreserved them back. Once they’re back, there’s really thing you tin do. It’s a interaction sport, and nan players conscionable benignant of play done that, but evidently we’re very cautious pinch not letting a subordinate play until nan doctor’s afloat definite that she’s symptom-free and astatine nary risk.”

The hardest portion pinch concussions tin beryllium nan first diagnosis. Oftentimes, symptoms show up hours aliases moreover days later. For Zandalasini, she was primitively diagnosed pinch a jaw wounded earlier dealing pinch a headache nan adjacent day.

Atkins knew a small spot astir what concussions felt like, and moreover this clip was different. Why concussions are up this twelvemonth is still a mystery, and possibly it will moreover retired arsenic nan play goes on.

But for now, players and aesculapian unit are connected alert.

“It’s nan point pinch athletes, right?” Atkins said. “We’re trying to fig retired symptom versus injury, like, is it thing serious? Is it not? I don’t want to wounded myself further. So, yeah, it tin beryllium difficult to decipher that pinch a caput injury.”