Li Yueru's fate has been full of hardships, which is truly heartbreaking.

Li Yueru’s season ended after she suffered a knee injury on the court, causing her previous problem to resurface. MRI scans showed an ACL sprain in her left knee, requiring at least six weeks of rest. With the regular season nearly over, Li Yueru was ruled out for the remainder of the season.

The cruciate ligament in her knee is a source of pain that Li Yueru always tries to avoid discussing. During the 2023 WCBA Finals, she tore her cruciate ligament, but local hospitals advised that two to three weeks of rest would be enough for a full recovery.

It wasn’t until more than fifty days later, when Li Yueru went to Australia for further examination, that doctors there diagnosed her with a grade-three tear of the posterior cruciate ligament—almost a complete rupture. The period she spent resting in China caused her to miss the best window for rehabilitation. Doctors in Australia recommended at least ten weeks of rest before she could resume running and jumping.

Li Yueru later traveled to the United States, where the Chicago Sky team’s assessment matched Australia’s diagnosis. Her severe injury meant she never played for the Sky again, and in February 2024, she was traded to the Los Angeles Sparks.

During this time, Li Yueru didn’t take a break. On March 12, 2023, she fell during the finals; by October 12, she made her debut in the Turkish league, having recovered from her cruciate ligament injury in just seven months.

Throughout the entire 2024 season, Li Yueru endured a grueling schedule: 22 games in the Turkish league, 14 in the EuroLeague Women, 32 in the WNBA, and another 29 with the national team. Nearly 100 games in a year, with a heavy workload in Turkey, led to repeated knee injuries, and she often had to ice her knee on the sidelines.

The issues that developed in 2024 erupted this year, but fortunately, Li Yueru only suffered a sprain and did not re-tear her ligament. A second cruciate ligament tear is usually much worse than the first and can be devastating to a player’s career.

This WNBA season wasn’t smooth sailing for Li Yueru either. While playing for the Storm early on, she struggled to gain the coach’s trust and averaged just seven minutes per game, making her time in the WNBA feel pointless.

Li Yueru couldn’t afford to wait and requested a trade, resulting in her being benched for nine games. Fortunately, the trade happened quickly, and she joined the Dallas Wings, becoming teammates with the top rookie, Paige Bueckers.

With the Wings, Li Yueru gradually transitioned from a fringe player to a key presence in the paint, even earning a starting spot. However, after her honeymoon period, she ran into trouble: she failed to score in double digits for nine consecutive games, and the team’s role for her became problematic.

Although Li Yueru is capable of hitting three-pointers, her true strength lies in posting up inside and showcasing her power near the basket. Yet the Wings seemed to use her mainly as a pick-and-pop shooter, failing to highlight her main advantages.

On August 13, however, Li Yueru played 26 minutes and 39 seconds in Dallas’ narrow 81-80 win over the Indiana Fever, shooting 7-of-14 from the field, 2-of-6 from three, and making all four free throws to score a career-high 20 points, along with 4 rebounds and 2 steals. She became the third Chinese player to score 20+ points in a WNBA game, following Zheng Haixia and Han Xu.

But just three days later, her old knee injury flared up again, ending her season. This year, Li Yueru played 22 games for the Wings, averaging 20 minutes, 7.4 points, 5.8 rebounds, 1 assist, with shooting percentages of 42.1% from the field, 35.3% from three, and 84.2% from the free-throw line.

After a season full of ups and downs, just as she reached a high point in her WNBA career, she was forced to end the season early. Li Yueru’s journey has been filled with adversity, and it’s hard not to feel for her. Next season in the WNBA, she may once again have to start from scratch.

Before her knee injury, Li Yueru had already decided to continue playing in the Turkish league after the WNBA season, joining last season’s Turkish Cup champions, Mersin. She hopes this injury won’t affect her preparations for the Turkish league.

The WNBA season runs from May to September, while the Turkish and European leagues go from October to April of the following year. This means Li Yueru barely gets any time off all year, just as she did last year.

Fans often have conflicting feelings: they want Li Yueru to keep honing her skills in overseas leagues, but also worry that such a packed schedule will take a toll on her body. This ligament sprain serves as a warning sign.

Li Yueru didn’t play in this year’s Women’s Asia Cup. Many thought this would be Zhang Ziyu’s breakout opportunity, but China’s painful semifinal loss to Japan is still fresh in memory. Who could have predicted that the women's team would fare worse than the men’s at this Asia Cup?

As the future leader of the women’s national team, Li Yueru needs to protect her knees while continuing to gain experience abroad. Wishing her a speedy recovery and hoping she dominates again in the European leagues.