Opals star Kristy Wallace opens up on her injury struggle ahead of her return to WNBL with Melbourne Boomers

Look up resilience in the dictionary and you’ll find a picture of Kristy Wallace. After back-to-back ACL’s, the Opal almost quit the sport. So a meniscus injury’s a walk in the park, right?

For months, it’s been the million-dollar question but it’s one Opals, WNBA and WNBL star Kristy Wallace is sick of being asked: “when are you back?”

After another surgery on the same knee that has endured a pair of Anterior Cruciate Ligament reconstructions, the just-turned 28-year-old Melbourne Boomers guard has spent months recovering — and just as long deflecting every time someone asks when she’ll hit the floor again.

Asked the question — just one more time — by Code Sports and, finally, there’s relief.

“I’m back, I’ll be on a minutes restriction, but I’m playing against Adelaide on Saturday,” Wallace, who will ease her way back in after more than four months on the sidelines, said.

It’s a circuit breaker, not just for the endless speculation about when she’ll return — a nasty rumour did the rounds that she might be done for the season — but also the hard work of rehabbing that troublesome knee has paid off... again.

BELGRADE, SERBIA - FEBRUARY 13: Kristy Anne Wallace of Australia in action during the FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup Qualifying Tournament match between Australia v Korea on February 13, 2022 in Belgrade, Serbia. (Photo by Nikola Krstic/MB Media/Getty Images)

DARK DAYS: ‘I WANTED TO QUIT’

Those who know the Wallace story are acutely aware of how remarkable the 2022 FIBA World Cup bronze medal winner is.

In her last year with NCAA Big 12 powerhouse Baylor (2018) she ruptured her ACL and endured a gruelling nine-month rehabilitation. In just her second game back with Canberra in the WNBL, the ligament gave way again.

This latest setback — a meniscus injury suffered while playing for Indiana in the WNBA — is a relative walk in the park compared to those back-to-back knee reconstructions, which kept Wallace sidelined for three-and-a-half-years and left the gun Queensland-born guard questioning her future in the sport.

“It was hard. It was really hard. I wanted to quit, I didn’t know why I was doing it,” Wallace said, reflecting on the dark times in her journey.

“But people kept telling me I couldn’t do it. There was a doctor who told me ‘you should probably retire, move on’ (after the second ACL).

“Maybe that motivated me but I’m not sure, I can’t really put my finger on it.”

INDIANAPOLIS, IN - SEPTEMBER 1: Kristy Wallace #3 of the Indiana Fever drives to the basket during the game against the Dallas Wings on September 1, 2023 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2023 NBAE (Photo by Ron Hoskins/NBAE via Getty Images)

HOPE SPRINGS WITH MOVE SOUTH

The struggle in Canberra, after the second ACL, was very real and, without a move south to Melbourne, it might have spelt the end of her basketball career.

It was the expertise of VIS pros Ben King and Steve Hawkins, though, who helped her soldier on — and they remain a constant today.

“I came to them and I said ‘honestly, I don’t know if I want to play again, guys’,” Wallace said.

“I was a bit of a troubled case because, after two ACLs, do they want to take that on? At that point, I didn’t even know if I was actually able to play again, anyway.

“They said ‘OK, we’re going to help you’ and they did.

“They cared about me as a person first and then an athlete second and they’ve been crucial to helping me get back.”

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - DECEMBER 30: Kristy Wallace of the Boomers reacts with team mates during the WNBL match between Melbourne Boomers and Bendigo Spirit at Melbourne Sports Centres - Parkville, on December 30, 2023, in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Kelly Defina/Getty Images)

HERE WE GO AGAIN

The recovery, this time round, hasn’t been all smooth-sailing — without a couple of hiccups, the 180cm tough nut would have been back weeks ago, hence the speculation the injury might have been more severe than advertised.

“I planned to be back earlier but, with a complex rehab, it never goes perfectly to plan,” she said.

“I just needed a bit more time. I’ve been doing my best and, mentally, going through all the rehabs I have, I’m so much more resilient than I ever would have been.

“This is just another opportunity for me to become more resilient.”

Kristy Wallace ahead of the WNBL season. Picture: Supplied

BRING THE BOOM A PRIORITY

It’s that famed strength in the face of adversity that has her in the frame for the Opals’ Paris redemption campaign.

But, before that, there are several boxes to tick. The priority is to get back on the floor for the Boomers alongside superstar import Jordin Canada.

One of the hottest WNBA free agents this off-season, Canada came to the Boomers with the promise of playing off the ball alongside Wallace and improving her three-point shooting and scoring.

With Wallace out, necessity put the ball in Canada’s hands and she’s responded with a league-leading 7.8 assists per game, powering the Boomers to second on the WNBL ladder.

“Just watching her I’m learning so much,” Wallace said of the former fifth overall WNBA draft pick.

“Great player but also a really great person.

“I’m keen to get out there and just have fun with my teammates.

“We’re just tough and I love playing on tough teams and with tough people so I’m excited.”

Ahead of her return, Wallace has already been stitched up by new import Naz Hillmon who, after the Boomers’ January 3 win over cross-town rival Southside, ensured the whole Boom Box crowd sang happy birthday.

Australian Opals No.3 Kristy Wallace

PARIS DREAMIN’

Wallace is on an Olympic deadline to navigate the restricted minutes and back to the form that entrenched her in last season’s All-WNBL First Team. Opals coach Sandy Brondello clearly holds her in high regard — despite the injury, was been named in the squad of 20 ahead of this month’s qualifiers against Brazil, Germany and Serbia, which she had to withdraw from.

From here, she’ll have to prove her fitness finishing off the WNBL season and then back to the WNBA but, ask Wallace what it means to wear the green and gold and she gets a little lost for words.

“It’s why I play... Sorry, I don’t even know what to say,” she said.

“I would watch the Opals on TV growing up and see them be so tough and together. To watch that as a young girl, I could see myself in them.

“And now to be in with a really cool opportunity to actually achieve that dream is just mind blowing.”

She’s excited, but realistic, about that dream, and she’s keeping her eyes on the prize, hoping to finish the WNBL season with Boomers silverware before another season at the Fever leading into the Games.

“It’s tough because obviously I have those goals but, at the moment, for me, it’s just getting back on court,” she said.

“So I’m just keeping a really short-term focus.

“Day-by-day, real stereotypical, but it’s what I need to do.”

***Adelaide Lightning v Melbourne Boomers, Saturday, February 17, 6pm

Originally published as Opals star Kristy Wallace opens up on her injury struggle ahead of her return to WNBL with Melbourne Boomers