It’s 2025, and injury is the name of the game! The WNBA has been plagued with quite a few major injuries over the last couple of years. But let’s be honest, the rate of injury in modern basketball doesn’t really make sense. Because even after drastic improvements in sports science and medicine, we still seem helpless in the face of injury. Cameron Brink, Breanna Stewart, and, most recently, Caitlin Clark are just some of the big names who were forced to rest and miss games in between because they were hurt. So, the question arises–how do we keep our athletes from getting major injuries? Well, workload management might just do the trick! Currently, the WNBA is in a very crucial yet precarious position. The league is slowly growing into its own and gaining popularity, thanks to last year’s draft class, and we can’t have big names like Caitlin Clark or rookie Paige Bueckers missing too many games. But how does missing games on purpose, or playing fewer minutes, lead to fewer injuries? The thing about basketball is that it’s quite an intense sport. There are a lot of low-level and high-level ground contacts, and there’s a lot of jumping and sprinting involved. Going up for lobs, taking jumpers, and running up and down 94 feet for over half an hour is bound to have an impact on the body. There ends up being a lot of wear and tear on a player’s joints, cartilages, and tendons. So, if teams manage the amount of load that a player is taking at any given point in time, they can mitigate and lessen the injury risk by quite a lot. And frankly, this is necessary. Elena Delle Donne, a former two-time MVP of the league, had to call it quits this year because of her back. She had gotten it operated on twice before, but it just didn’t seem to hold up. “My body seemed to make this decision before my mind accepted it…” she said in her retirement post on IG. Then, take a look at Breanna Stewart. No doubt, she’s a legend of the game. The Liberty star is still putting up crazy numbers in the 2025 season, but she had to get her right meniscus operated on before joining training camp this year. These injuries, if they end up being chronic, are a surefire way to ruin a player’s prime. But will this load management protocol end up prolonging careers in the WNBA’s 40-game season? Well, to answer this, we need to take a look at their male counterparts. A lot of teams keep their aging stars away from any irrelevant load, stopping them from playing back-to-back encounters, and sitting them out for dead-rubber games. However, this does have an impact on the way fans perceive these stars as well! Recently, Clippers superstar Kawhi Leonard caught some major heat for allegedly missing games on purpose to keep himself healthy. The ‘Klaw’ single-handedly won the Raptors their 2019 ring, but he has battled a large number of injuries throughout his career. There are drawbacks to load management, but it can end up being necessary in quite a few circumstances. But what does it mean for the players and stars in the WNBA? Young stars Paige Bueckers and Caitlin Clark are suffering through injuries more and more frequently, and this protocol might end up elongating their careers. What will load management mean for WNBA superstars Caitlin Clark and Paige Bueckers? Both Caitlin Clark and Paige Bueckers have been instrumental in the recent meteoric rise of women’s basketball. Although the UConn guard rose to fame first, the last three years have been all about CC! After the Indiana Fever snagged the six-foot-tall guard from Iowa, the WNBA was hit with a sudden wave of popularity and fame. Viewership, fan interest, ticket prices, everything went up by a margin that the league could previously only dream of! And when quantified, the numbers aren’t small either! Dr Ryan Brewer, an associate professor of finance at Indiana University Columbus, spoke to the Indianapolis Star Network, revealing Clark’s true impact on her team. “I have her economic impact on the city of Indianapolis at $36 million, and the impact on the WNBA is at least at $40 million,” he said, and it makes sense! Brewer went on to predict that CC could end up bringing hundreds of millions or maybe even billions of dollars of revenue in the time to come.May 17, 2025; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; Chicago Sky center Kamilla Cardoso (10) holds the ball while Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) defends in the second half at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn ImagesSo what happens when such an important figure gets injured? Well, we’ve been seeing it recently with her quad strain. Ticket prices for Fever games have fallen drastically until the 9th of June, when Clark is supposed to get re-evaluated. Not to mention, fans have stopped tuning in as much, and it even seems like the sun doesn’t shine as bright in Indiana! On a similar note, Dallas fans were excited about Paige Bueckers coming to their city. After losing Luka and struggling over the last few seasons, a new superstar seemed almost necessary! We expected her to have a slow start in the W, but she blew us all away by showcasing her skills flawlessly at the highest level. Unfortunately for the Wings, she picked up a concussion against the Chicago Sky, rendering her unfit for quite a few games. And although the Dallas star hasn’t suffered a major injury, there are some points of concern in Chris Koclanes’ planning for her. Like the fact that she currently stands fifth in the whole league for minutes per game (34.6), which really shows her willingness to hustle and win. However, it also raises the question of injury risks! Bueckers played a huge college postseason, ultimately winning a national championship, and barely had any time to acclimate herself to the W, or even take some time off. May 19, 2025; Arlington, Texas, USA; Dallas Wings forward Myisha Hines-Allen (2) and guard Paige Bueckers (5) and guard DiJonai Carrington (21) in action during the game between the Dallas Wings and the Seattle Storm at College Park Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn ImagesShe played about 30 minutes per game during her last season at UConn, and she’s definitely carrying all that fatigue into her first professional stint. This is where load management comes in. Clark and Bueckers are quite young, so any major injuries they sustain now will surely come back to bite them later. God forbid they injure a cartilage or a tendon in an area that doesn’t get blood flow (like the meniscus tear that Breanna Stewart suffered), because those injuries don’t ever fully go away.If stars like Caitlin Clark and Paige Bueckers are managed with care, the WNBA will see growth like never before. Because with them, they bring in brand deals, loyal fans, and a whole lot of exposure for the budding league. And injuries are best avoided in the case of superstars. Just remember, not many people wanted to watch the Chicago Bulls if Michael Jordan wasn’t playing! It will be interesting to see if teams in the WNBA resort to load management for their younger stars, and the effect that it has on injuries and recovery. The post Can Load Management Save WNBA Careers? What It Could Mean For Caitlin Clark & Paige Bueckers Long Term appeared first on EssentiallySports.