Why Alanna Smith sat – even if she could have played

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Australian Opals star Alanna Smith: Status Unknown.

Smith, 29, was dismantling Puerto Rico in Australia's first game of the 2026 FIBA Women's World Cup in Berlin on Friday, September 4, 2026. She had 10 points and eight rebounds inside 12 minutes before suffering a lower leg injury during a contest defensive rebound in the second quarter.

She limped off unassisted, talked to a team physio and rejoined her teammates on the bench. Smith didn't play in the second half, instead sat at the end of the bench in an Australian hoodie as Australia regrouped to win 70-54.

Australia plays Turkiye on Sunday, September 5, 2026 at 7:30pm (AEST)

"I don't have a status report on Alanna," Opals head coach Sandy Brondello said afterwards.

"Obviously we're praying that she'll be okay. She's such a big part of what we do, and she had played great in the 12 minutes that she did play."

There has been no injury update out of the Opals camp since and more than likely won't be until she either appears in warm-ups or sweats.

Only the Opals know if Smith could have returned – if the stakes were higher. But they decided to call it at halftime rather than take the risk as Basketball Australia described it as "precautionary due to lower leg tightness".

The Dallas Wings forward sat out three consecutive WNBA games this season with a right leg injury and whether it's been re-aggravated hasn't been revealed.

Australia's goal is to win the whole thing and the risk of ending Smith's tournament in the first game was two-fold: The reigning co-WNBA Defensive Player of the Year out and not permitted to be replaced.

The Opals quest for gold would be with 11 healthy players because FIBA rules that rosters are final at a Technical Meeting right before the start of the World Cup.

Brondello could bring Miela Sowah into the 12-player team for injured veteran Sami Whitcomb because the 38-year-old shooting guard withdrew before the meeting.

FIBA rules state: "Once the Technical Meeting is declared closed, no changes to the composition of the final roster (twelve (12) players), including team uniform numbers, can be made at any time during the Competition."

Berlin is Smith's second senior World Cup after 2018, but across seven Australian tournaments and 31 caps she has averaged 8.3 points, with her two strongest efficiency ratings coming at the Paris Olympics and this year's World Cup qualifiers.

Zitina Aokuso started the second half in her place and was, in starting point guard Jade Melbourne's words, "unbelievable" in her first major tournament.

The frustration for Smith is that this is precisely how her entire year has gone.

Her first season with the Dallas Wings has been stop-start from the beginning, and by the WNBA's All-Star break she had played 20 of the team's 27 games, missing seven in all. She suffered a nasal fracture in pre-season, went into the concussion protocol in late June, and then sat out three consecutive games with a right leg injury.

Her numbers tell the same story of interruption. Smith averaged 3.8 points, 2.9 rebounds and 1.1 assists across those 20 games, well down on her career marks of 7.0, 4.4 and 1.9, and she found herself coming off the bench for the first time in years after starting 82 straight games for the Minnesota Lynx.

"It's definitely a mental adjustment," she said of the demotion, framing it as a chance to read the game before entering it.

"It's really hard to get into a flow and feel confident about your game when you're not getting the opportunity just to be out there, and you physically can't do what you know you can do," Smith said.

"And then you're just bored a lot of the time. You play basketball because it's fun. Watching is cool, I guess, but I don't want to be a spectator yet."

Smith said she had used the WNBA All-Star window to rehabilitate rather than rest

"I feel great. My body feels good. I'm excited to get back out on the court," she said.

Smith signed with Dallas in April on a three-year deal worth USD $3.75 million, (AUD $5.2 million). She and Opals teammate Ezi Magbegor both signed the richest contracts an Australian woman has signed in the WNBA.

Days later she added a deal with the Lauren Jackson-backed Project B, which pays its marquee players more than USD $1 million a season, and she had already banked a share of the USD $600,000 Unrivaled prize pool after helping the Mist to the three-on-three title in Miami.

Australia got through the night without her, on the back of Steph Talbot's 19 points and eight rebounds and a 14-2 third-quarter run that broke the Puerto Rican zone, though 22 turnovers gave Brondello plenty to work with.

"We know we can't turn the ball over or give up so many offensive boards," Brondello added.

"The most important thing: we won. And now we have to get ready for the next battle."

That battle is Turkiye on Sunday, with Belgium on Monday, both at 7:30pm AEST and the top two in Group C going straight through to the quarter-finals.

Whether Smith is available for either is the only question that matters.