Masked, bruised and unbroken: Inside Ezi Magbegor’s World Cup battle

Opals and WNBA star Ezi Magbegor has opened up about her battle to be fit for the women’s FIBA World Cup, and says the Opals can match their mega-star USA rivals should the new-look Australian team advance deep into the tournament.

The Opals, bronze medallists at the Paris Olympics, begin their World Cup campaign in Berlin on Friday night (AEST), when they face Puerto Rico in the first of three group C games. Turkey (ranked 16th) and Belgium (fifth) then await.

Magbegor, the hero of that 2024 bronze-medal game with 30 points and 17 rebounds, has had a frustrating year, for she partially tore her Achilles in a World Cup qualifying game against Hungary in March, forcing her to miss the opening 20 games of the Seattle Storm’s WNBA campaign. It was the longest injury spell the dynamic forward, and longest-tenured current Storm player, has ever had.

“It was different. I think I also was maybe worried about how I would kind of respond to a long-term injury just because I didn’t know what it would be like,” Magbegor told this masthead from Seattle.

“But, I think just having been around it [the sport] and knowing I was going back to Seattle and having some comfort and familiarity, I think was something that just helped me as well. And having confidence in the medical [team] from the VIS [Victorian Institute of Sport] as well, they were communicating with me throughout the whole process.

“And so just taking everything day by day and kind of looking back on weeks and months and realising that there were definitely more good than bad days, and like you’re gonna have bad days during rehab but, yeah, I think just having a common goal with the medical staff and with everyone around me really helped as well.”

It was during this period that the former Melbourne Boomer and Canberra Capitals WNBL player became a more vocal team leader. Quietly spoken, Megbagor has always led by deed, but at 27, she now has the wisdom to advise by word. That includes with Opals teammate Jade Melbourne, the brilliant emerging guard back with the Storm for a second spell.

“I don’t think I’m the most like vocal leader, but I think being injured also provided me a way to kind of like pour into my teammates or lead like while not being on the court because I think it’s easier for me to just be on the court and kind of help out my teammates in that way,” Magbegor said.

“And so I think it was a challenge to be on the bench and kind of see the game a little bit differently and see my teammates and what they needed at different moments, and so kind of like leaning into that leadership style a little bit more.”

The joy at being back on court didn’t last long though, for four games in, Magbegor broke her nose and was concussed in a rebounding collision.