The 2026 WNBA All-Star break couldn’t have come at a better time for the Toronto Tempo.
The Tempo limp into the break coming off a 109-83 loss on Monday to the defending-champion Las Vegas Aces and having lost seven of their past eight games.
Toronto got its inaugural season off on the right foot, going 9-9 in their first 18 games, but injuries have prevented the Tempo from keeping a better pace in the playoff race.
Rookie Kiki Rice going down with an ankle injury on June 3 was the first big blow. The Tempo’s first-ever draft pick at sixth overall, Rice was averaging 12.7 points, 4.7 rebounds and 2.6 assists in her first 10 games before getting hurt.
But the biggest loss came on June 16 as guard Brittney Sykes was injured against the Indiana Fever.
Sykes, who signed a two-year maximum contract as a free agent, was playing at a star level for the Tempo this season, averaging 20.1 points, 3.8 rebounds and 3.5 assists. Without her, the Tempo are just 3-8 as she continues to recover from a plantar fascia injury.
Nyara Sabally is the latest to land on the injury report after suffering a rib cage injury in Friday’s loss to the Atlanta Dream. After Sabally made incidental contact with the Dream’s Angel Reese, Tempo head coach Sandy Brondello made “inappropriate” comments that led to a one-game suspension on Monday and an apology from Brondello to Reese.
At one point, the injury issue got so dire for the Tempo that the team brought in 35-year-old Canadian centre Kayla Alexander on two seven-day hardship contracts.
In the wake of all the injuries though, it hasn’t been all doom and gloom for the Tempo.
The team made history on July 10 against the Dallas Wings, when they sold out the Bell Centre in Montreal with 20,996 fans for the WNBA regular-season single-game attendance record.
Guard Marina Mabrey has had a breakout season at age 29, going from expansion draft selection to first-time WNBA All-Star. She is averaging 21 points per game this season with 3.4 rebounds and 3.6 assists and got her name in the record books along the way.
The Belmar, N.J. native netted a WNBA single game record-tying 53 points against the Los Angeles Sparks on June 25, putting her alongside A’ja Wilson and Liz Cambage.
The one silver lining with the volume of injuries this season has allowed a pair of experienced rookies in Maria Conde and Laura Juskaite to step in and get valuable minutes.
Conde, 29, is averaging 8.8 points, 4.6 rebounds and 2.5 assists while averaging 26.5 minutes while the 28-year-old Juskaite is averaging 9.2 points, 3.8 rebounds and 23.5 minutes a game.
Conde, Juskaite and Kia Nurse are the only Tempo players who have played all 26 games this season.
Veteran Isabelle Harrison, who is on her fifth WNBA team, has found a home in Toronto after signing a one-year deal as a free agent.
After starting the season on the shelf with a hand injury and didn’t make her debut until June 7, Harrison has been averaging career highs in points per game (13.8), rebounds (6.4) and assists (1.6). She has started 14 of 16 games while averaging 24.1 minutes.
One player looking to bounce back in the second half is centre Temi Fagbenle.
After signing a one-year, $1 million deal as a free agent, Fagbenle has appeared in only 10 games so far this season as varying injuries have sidelined her.
She is averaging 5.9 points and 3.6 rebounds, and Fagbenle’s size makes her stand out on this guard-heavy roster.
When the Tempo return to action on July 28, the schedule is not doing them any favours as they have a home-and-home against the Western Conference-leading Minnesota Lynx before they face the Golden State Valkyries twice.
After a long home stretch in the first half, the Tempo will be on the road a lot in the second half, even as the home team. They have just two more home games at Coca-Cola Coliseum in September but will host two games at Scotiabank Arena and two at Rogers Arena in Vancouver.
Despite sitting 11th in the WNBA standings, the Tempo are just three and a half games back of the Washington Mystics for the eighth and final playoff spot.
