Atlanta Dream’s Jordin Canada out at least two weeks with knee injury that occurred in preseason game

Just 35 seconds into the Atlanta Dream’s first preseason game on Wednesday morning, starting point guard Jordin Canada went down with a knee injury and had to be helped off the court. 

The Dream announced on Friday that after undergoing imaging, Canada has been been ruled out for at least two weeks, at which point she will be re-evaluated. The team did not specify the issue, referring to it only as a “right knee injury.”

Canada was defending Washington Mystics guard Jade Melbourne and went up to contest a shot. Upon landing, Canada’s right knee buckled and she collapsed to the ground in obvious pain. Mystics guard Brittney Sykes quickly took a foul on the other end to stop the game. 

At the dead ball, Canada’s teammates and the Dream’s medical staff rushed to her side and attended to her for a few minutes before she was helped to her feet. Videos from the arena show that Canada could not put much weight on her right leg as she was taken to the locker room. 

In the initial aftermath, there was real concern about a long-term absence for Canada, but she has avoided a worst-case scenario. Still, losing Canada for any period is a blow for the new-look Dream, who are hoping to start fresh this season with Karl Smesko as their coach and Brittney Griner and Brionna Jones on board as key free agent signings. 

Canada, who was limited to just 20 games in her first season with the Dream due to a hand injury, is the only true point guard on the Dream’s roster. At her best, she’s an All-Defensive caliber perimeter stopper and a strong playmaker who can take some of the offensive burden off of Rhyne Howard and Allisha Gray. 

The Dream had a lot of issues on offense last season, but one of the main reasons they finished with the worst offensive rating in the league is because Canada missed half of their games. It was no surprise that when she played, their offensive rating was 100.7, and when she was off the court it was 92.9. 

While the Dream will miss Canada’s point of attack defense, her playmaking may be an even bigger loss. The good news is she should be back sooner rather than later. Based on this two-week timeline, it’s possible Canada could miss as few as three games, though she will likely be out a bit longer than that. 

The Dream have one more preseason game on May 10 against the Indiana Fever, and will tip off their regular season campaign on May 16 against the Mystics.