The Phoenix Mercury had great expectations when they faced off against the Las Vegas Aces. Unfortunately, things did not turn out as they would have liked. Facing a blowout loss, the Mercury fans were shell-shocked. But as it turned out, their woes were just starting. Soon after the second quarter, one of Mercury’s mainstays, Kahleah Copper, could be seen leaving the game with a rib injury.
Well, Copper has been making some noise on and off the field recently. Apart from her impressive on-court displays, the 30-year-old made news for having her wigs fall off. She also had a viral moment where Copper could be seen hugging it out with Angel Reese. But this time around, things were pretty grim considering the fact that she looked in significant pain.
Kahleah Copper Heightens Tension Following Her Rib Injury
The 30-year-old played for just 20 minutes. Putting up six points with two rebounds and one assist, Copper was starting to look impressive. Unfortunately, her stay on the court did not last long enough. Playing in the third quarter, the Mercury star suffered a telling blow. In a bid to win the ball, Copper had a hard collision with A’ja Wilson.
Immediately after the tussle, the Rose BC star fell to the ground and looked in a lot of pain. Soon after, medical professionals came in to help her off the court. As she was leaving, Copper could be seen holding her ribs. And such a sight surely made the fans’ hearts sink. As if the dismal performance was enough, one of their primary stars was now injured.
Kahleah Copper has just left the game with an undisclosed injury.
— Hayden Cilley (@HaydenCilley) August 22, 2025
She was down on the ground for a couple of minutes before getting up. pic.twitter.com/SZQsDZM5Wq
However, to get a clearer assessment of Copper’s injury, one would need to wait for the official announcement. Meanwhile, coming to the game, the Mercury’s outing can be fathomed from a simple stat. They conceded 21 points on the turnover. The team also had a low shooting percentage of 31% from the floor, while they shot 18.8% from the three-point mark. And while most critics have pointed fingers towards a lack of teamwork as the probable cause for the loss, Satou Sabally pointed towards the WNBA for its dismal performance.
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Satou Sabally Blames WNBA For Mercury’s Loss Amid Kahleah Copper Injury Concerns
The Mercury’s loss and Copper’s injury might have shocked the fans. But according to Sabally, she knows exactly why things went so horribly wrong. Speaking about the loss, Sabally stated that the inconsistency in the WNBA schedule has resulted in player burnout.
“Terrible. It’s like they don’t care about players’ safety. It’s like they don’t care about scheduling or whatever. I only mentioned that one time at the beginning of the season. I know people always love to come and say, ‘Oh, you guys want to get paid more, you guys need to play all these games,’ but at some point, there’s a sports science to it. It’s honestly just like game on game on game. So we play tomorrow, and we’re professional, and we’ll do it,” Satou Sabally said after the game.
Indeed, Mercury’s schedule has been all over the place at the moment. Once, they were playing nine games within 18 days. On the contrary, there were days when they had just one game a week. However, because the team cannot help with scheduling, Phoenix will have to find a way to tackle the imbalance. Thus, with quite a lot of problems to address, the team will be looking to bounce back soon.