The San Francisco Chronicle reported Wednesday that the Golden State Valkyries are down a player. María Conde, who is currently playing overseas in Czechia for USK Praha, suffered a leg injury during a EuroLeague game in Prague Tuesday and is now out of the 2025 season completely.
Todas las jugadoras del Casademont Zaragoza se acercaron a mostrar su apoyo a María Conde, que estaba en silla de ruedas al acabarse el partido.
— Manu Fresno (@Maanuf96) January 8, 2025
RESPETO ❤️🩹 pic.twitter.com/9hdAQnikz4
Conde was seen limping to the locker room with the assistance of her coaches after the fall. She returned to the bench in a wheelchair and was greeted by both her teammates and applauding fans.
Aquí el momento de la lesión de María Conde que se ha retirado de pista sin poder apoyar la pierna izquierda.
— Baloncesto femenino (@Basketfem) January 8, 2025
Da la sensación que más que rodilla, puede ser rotura del tendón de Aquiles, pero no estoy muy segura.#EuroleagueWomen pic.twitter.com/PAear5Vsod
Conde came down from a shot and appeared to land hard on her leg. There is speculation that she could have torn her Achilles, though no official confirmation has been shared publicly. Her agent Lluis Tunez told the Chronicle the injury seems to be "season-ending," and the Valkyries said in a statement to the newspaper, "We are in close contact with Maria, her agent and her medical team as she undergoes further evaluation."
Conde was drafted by the Sky in 2019, but she has yet to actually play on a WNBA court in the United States. Instead, she has played four seasons with USK Praha. Despite being drafted by the Valkyries in December's Expansion Draft, there was already speculation she could choose to remain in Europe to compete in the EuroBasket this summer. The tournament runs from August 27 to September 14.
Valkyries GM Ohemma Nyanin previously said of Conde, "We don't know if she's going to be coming over in the 2025 season. We just love her tenacity. She's playing really great basketball right now. She's continued to elevate her game. … We also just wanted the opportunity just to talk to her and give her the opportunity to come over if she wanted to."
In an interview with Swish Appeal, Nyanin expressed her excitement about working with both Conde and Carla Leite. "We didn’t have time to have legitimate conversations with these players, but we want our athletes to make the decisions that are best for them," Nyanin said. "Both of these athletes are playing elite basketball right now and any opportunity we can get to bring them in and get them to understand Coach Natalie’s philosophy will be great for us."
Conde has also made it clear that playing for her national team in Spain is a priority for her. "If there wasn’t national team for sure I would be trying to go," she said. "But national team, that’s kind of like the priority for me in the summer."
The 6'1" forward has been a major player for both the Spanish national team and USK Praha. This season she's averaged 13.8 points, 5 rebounds, and 6.4 assists with 31.4 minutes of playing time.