Chicago Sky rookie Kamilla Cardoso will miss at least 4-6 weeks with a shoulder injury.
The Sky announced the injury timeline Monday night, days after Cardoso injured her shoulder in her WNBA preseason debut Friday against the Minnesota Lynx.
The team didn’t offer details about the injury, just the timeline. It initially announced Monday that she would miss Tuesday’s preseason game against the New York Liberty before announcing the long-term injury Monday evening.
Cardoso joined the Sky as the No. 3 pick in April’s WNBA draft. A 6-7 center, she was an All-American and two-time national champion at South Carolina. She earned tournament Most Outstanding Player honors in April after leading South Carolina to its second NCAA championship in three seasons.
Cardoso joined the Sky alongside fellow rookie Angel Reese in April’s draft. The Sky selected Reese seventh overall after her standout college career at LSU. The pairing of the longtime SEC rivals as WNBA teammates was highly anticipated at the start of the new season. Now that pairing will have to wait.
Cardoso tallied six points, four rebounds and two blocks while shooting 3 for 5 in 13 minutes off the bench in her preseason debut against Minnesota.
Chicago opens its regular season on May 15 against the Dallas Wings. The most optimistic end of the timeline would have Cardoso miss nine games through Chicago’s June 6 matchup against the Washington Mystics.