'When Aari is on the court, good things happen': Ex-Cat McDonald regains WNBA groove after injury

NEW YORK — Aari McDonald stretched and took a quick jog back to the endline on the court at the Barclay’s Center.

Nothing unusual there.

Her routine looked exactly the same it has for every home and away game over the last three years — 75 games to date — she’s suited up for the WNBA’s Atlanta Dream.

Heck, if you look closely — not at the uniform, of course — she could even be back in McKale Center getting ready to lead her Wildcats during the 2019-2021 seasons.

Once the game in Brooklyn between Atlanta and the New York Liberty tipped off, McDonald came off the bench with 6:08 left in the first quarter with the Dream down 16-2. She went to work, grabbing a defensive rebound, driving to the hoop and getting fouled, nailing a three-pointer and dishing assists.

It looked like vintage McDonald; she was doing the types of things Tucsonans watched her do for three years during her legendary Arizona basketball career.

At the same time, it was an evolved McDonald, who has settled into being a professional player — a more mature player.

The biggest difference on this night, though, was the big black brace on her left shoulder.

McDonald tore her left labrum in June and was out for more than six weeks.

While she had only been back four games when the Dream took on the Liberty last Thursday, McDonald seemed to quickly find her groove.

“She’s playing hard, aggressive,” Dream teammate and six-year veteran Allisha Gray said. “You can tell when Aari is on the court, good things happen.”

Since McDonald’s been back, the 2021 WNBA third overall draft pick has been providing a spark for the Dream off the bench. Against the Liberty, it seemed like whenever she was on the court, the Dream closed the gap. Whens she was on the bench, that gap would grow.

Gray noticed how McDonald impacts her teammates. She said as a “great all-around player” McDonald impacts the game by pushing the pace, scoring and getting the Dream going defensively.

With two minutes left in the third quarter, the Dream got within five points on a McDonald 3-pointer; that was the closest they would get the rest of the way before losing 95-84.

McDonald scored nine of her 18 points in the fourth quarter, including the six of the final eight points for the Dream. She added three rebounds, five assists, only one foul and one turnover in close to 28 minutes of action.

Despite her performance, when Dream coach Tanisha Wright ripped into her team during the post-game press conference, McDonald took it to heart.

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“It’s not a good feeling at all,” McDonald said, “to see our coach frustrated like this.” We’ve got to lock in and look in the mirror, reflect, hold each other accountable, hold ourselves accountable and just try to be consistent and be more locked in.”

McDonald had a lot of time while she was rehabbing her shoulder. It was the first time she suffered an injury that sidelined her as a professional. In college, she endured a stress fracture in her left fibula towards the end of the 2020 season, leading her to miss just two games.

The speedy point guard has a hard time sitting still.

“I had to turn it up a notch. I felt like first half of the season — the first five games that I played — I wasn’t playing like myself. That wasn’t me,” McDonald said. “I think that the injury gave me a moment of clarity. It made me like, ‘Hey, wake up.’ I really trusted the process (of rehab). In the beginning, I didn’t. It was hard, but I’m here.”

McDonald missed 15 games. During that time the Dream went on a seven-game winning streak. When she returned, as she integrated herself back in, that meant being a reserve, instead of starting like she did for the first five games of the season.

“While I’m on a bench, I’m seeing what’s working; I’m seeing what’s not what’s not working, and I’m just trying to come in, I want to push the pace. I want to set the tone defensively on a game, get my teammates involved and just make sure they’re successful around the court,” McDonald said.

While she was in rehab, she spent time strengthening all the little muscles in her shoulder. She also did cupping, had massages and applied ice and heat to it.

McDonald says she feels fine now — just some usual aches and pains that all professionals go through. She will use the brace for another month. Right now, it’s a “security blanket” and a reminder to keep her elbow higher when she shoots.

“Sometimes I’m shooting flat,” she said.

At times when facing the Liberty, it looked like a throwback Pac-12 matchup with McDonald guarding the Liberty’s Sabrina Ionescu, herself a college standout at Oregon .

McDonald was her usual pesky self, defending Ionescu tightly and denying her space to score.

With 5:56 left in the third quarter, McDonald fell and went back to the locker room limping. However, she came back onto the court quickly and after the game shook it off as just a little ankle roll.

“But that’s nothing I haven’t seen before,” she added.

Once back in the game, she grabbed a rebound and went coast-to-coast to score and forced Ionescu to foul her on a three-point attempt.

Even after the loss, when McDonald was showered and dressed in a team t-shirt she didn’t appear bothered by her ankle. That was especially the case when she heard the Dream’s bus start up — leading her to abruptly end an interview and race to catch up to her team before the bus pulled away.