Ten years of playing professional basketball has taken its toll on Janel McCarville and she needs some rest.
That’s what her agent, Mike Cound, said Thursday – one day after the Minnesota Lynx announced the center’s decision to sit out the 2015 season.
“The basic thing is her body is a little broken down,” Cound told the Star Tribune Thursday. “She didn’t think she could take the wear and tear this summer. She’s going to take time, get her body back, see if she can play overseas [this fall]. She’s not certain about that.”
McCarville averaged 7.9 points, 4.8 rebounds in more than 27 minutes a game last season for the Lynx. The 32-year-old was a star for the Gophers women’s basketball team from 2001-05. She and Lindsay Whalen led the Gophers to the Final Four in 2004.
According to the Pioneer Press, it’s not the first time McCarville has missed a WNBA season. She was suspended in 2011 by the New York Liberty after the team refused to give her some time off between her season in Europe and the Liberty’s training camp.
She also missed the 2012 campaign before she signed with the Lynx for the 2013 season.
McCarville played in the China Women’s League last fall and winter and Cound said she’s realized that her body wasn’t ready and even considered retiring.
“Instead she just wants to take some time,” Cound told the Star Tribune. “She just feels like she’s not physically ready. She has knee pain, back pain. She wants to get everything straight, and see where she is. She’s wide open about what she’s going to do next. She might play five years, she might retire.”
Cound added that it was a tough decision for McCarville because of her ties to the team and the state. He added that if she does return to the league, she only wants to play with the Lynx.
Minnesota tried to address the loss by acquiring 11-year WNBA veteran Asja Jones. Jones hasn’t played in two seasons because of injuries, but the 6-foot-3 center is a two-time WNBA All-Star.
