Damiris Dantas will miss the remainder of the 2026 WNBA season after undergoing successful knee surgery on Monday to repair a torn meniscus in her left knee, the Indiana Fever announced.
The injury update is a significant one for the Fever because Dantas had already been out for the team’s last five games before the season-ending surgery was confirmed. She had been part of Indiana’s frontcourt rotation, giving the team another experienced option behind Aliyah Boston.
What Dantas had been providing
Through 12 appearances this season, Dantas averaged 3.3 points and 1.5 rebounds in 8.2 minutes per game. Those numbers do not jump off the page, but her presence mattered for a Fever team trying to manage its frontcourt depth across the course of the season.
With Dantas now officially done for the year, Indiana will likely lean more heavily on Boston, Monique Billings, Myisha Hines-Allen and Mikayla Timpson to handle most of the minutes inside. The Fever made a move on Friday as well, signing Ugonne Onyiah to a developmental contract, another sign that the team is adding depth where it can.
How Indiana can absorb the loss
The Fever have had some strong stretches recently, including a three-game span from Jul. 27 to Aug. 2 in which Caitlin Clark averaged 25.7 points, 5.0 rebounds and 9.0 assists while Indiana went 2-1. But the loss of Dantas trims the options in the frontcourt and makes the remaining rotation more important as the season moves on.
For Indiana, the immediate task is straightforward: replace Dantas’ minutes and keep the frontcourt stable without her. The longer-term impact is that the Fever now know they will have to finish the 2026 WNBA season without another experienced interior piece.
