Paige Bueckers had every reason to feel she was on top of the world returning from Berlin. She helped Team USA win the FIBA World Cup gold medal, adding an international accolade to her already solid basketball resume in a young career. However, as she has now revealed, there was a concerning result from her World Cup participation: an injury concern right before the WNBA playoffs.

Following a team practice with the Dallas Wings on Wednesday, September 16, Bueckers spoke to reporters and revealed that she had suffered from the World Cup scheduling, and that her patellar tendinitis “flared up.”

“There was two back-to-backs,” she said, according to beat reporter Drake Keeler on X. “Just wanted to be cautious, take that approach. Obviously the timing was frustrating, but being smart about it too, knowing that there’s a reason and purpose for everything.”

Team USA played six games in the tournament, which ran from September 4 to 13, and appeared in multiple back-to-back games. The first was during the group stage, when Bueckers and the squad faced Italy and Czechia on September 6 and 7, respectively.

Then, they played three games in four days during the knockout stage: Hungary in the quarterfinal, a day of rest, then Spain and France in the semifinal and final to take the gold home.

Bueckers’ flare-up was likely also the reason why she played as little as she did in the gold medal game against France, logging less than three minutes and failing to score, with her only stat recorded being one offensive rebound. According to USA Today, a video started circulating online that showed Bueckers rubbing her right knee before running off the court before the World Cup finals, raising doubts about her health.

Leading up to that game, she had been the fourth-leading scorer on the American squad, averaging 8.8 points, 2.2 assists, and 2.0 rebounds per game while scoring efficiently. However, she had already seen a noticeable dip in her minutes leading up to the final game.

During the group stage, she averaged 19.3 minutes per game and played about 20 minutes in the quarterfinal against Hungary. However, she dropped to 17 minutes against Spain in the semifinal and barely saw the floor against France.

What makes her update more concerning is her injury history. Bueckers dealt with several leg injuries during college, including a tibial plateau fracture, a torn meniscus, and a torn ACL. To make things worse, she also suffered a right leg injury during her rookie season, and this season, she has played nearly every game for the team and averaged over 33 minutes per game, carrying a major scoring load.

However, the Wings are already taking steps to make sure she’s ready to play. According to head coach Jose Fernandez, who was also interviewed after team practice, said Bueckers was not part of the team practice on Tuesday to give her time to rest. And on Wednesday, Fernandez limited her to “a good 15-20 minutes of work” on the court.

Dallas has four games left in the season and has made the playoffs for the first time in three seasons after winning a combined 19 games in their previous two seasons.

The team’s first game back from the World Cup break is on September 17 against the Los Angeles Sparks at home, a game where Fernandez expects Bueckers to be “full go.” Then, the team defends home court against the Phoenix Mercury before heading to Phoenix for a rematch and closing the season against the Seattle Storm on the road.

For Paige Bueckers, the World Cup ended with gold, but the next challenge is here. Only time will tell if the patellar tendinitis ends up being a recurring issue and if the team will have to deal with more adversity as the playoffs near.