Sports Injury Epidemiology in the Women’s National Basketball Association 2023-2024
Date of Award
Spring 3-19-2025
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Kinesiology (PhD)
Department
Kinesiology
Abstract
Injury rates are increasing in multiple professional sports, yet the rates specific to American professional women’s basketball are unknown. This study tracked injury occurrence, games missed due to injury, and injury occurrence among the 12 teams of the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) through the 2023 and 2024 seasons. All injuries that occurred during the regular seasons and/or resulted in games missed during the regular seasons were included in this analysis. Injuries that resulted in the athlete being evaluated by the team athletic trainer on the bench and/or reporting to the locker room were also included, even if the injury did not result in the athlete missing any games. Overall, there were 379 injuries and illnesses resulting in 1,500 games lost across the 2023-2024 seasons. Ankle (74), knee (45), and foot (35) injuries were the most common and resulted in the most games lost (292, 367, and 243, respectively). These findings add to a growing body of literature regarding professional women’s basketball epidemiology.