Lynx claim McCall, waive Christmas-Kelly

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The Minnesota Lynx announced on Thursday they have been awarded forward Erica McCall via waiver trade and have waived forward Karima Christmas-Kelly. Photo credit: NBA Media Central

On Monday, the Minnesota Lynx were coming off their first win of the 2020 season, aware of where they needed to improve but grateful for their team’s health.

One day later, Lynx forward and co-captain Karima Christmas-Kelly went down with a season-ending rupture of her right Achilles Tendon.

The Lynx know a 22-game season leaves teams with little time to waste, which is why they acted quickly in adding to their forward depth.

The Lynx announced on Thursday they have been awarded, via a waiver claim, forward Erica McCall who was waived by the Atlanta Dream on Wednesday. McCall appeared in Atlanta’s 105-95 win over the Dallas Wings on Sunday and recorded two rebounds, one steal in 5 minutes, 12 seconds of playing time.

“We thought we’d take an opportunity to see what (McCall) was about,” Lynx head coach and general manager Cheryl Reeve said.

According to ESPN’s Mechelle Voepel, McCall stayed in the WNBA’s bubble in Bradenton, Florida after being waived. She is available for Minnesota’s Thursday night game against the Chicago Sky.

McCall, a former Stanford Cardinal, spent the first three seasons of her career with the Indiana Fever before being picked up by the Dream as a free agent in July. She has appeared in 80 total games with Indiana and Atlanta and holds career averages of 2.6 points, 2.4 rebounds, and 0.4 blocks per game.

Reeve said McCall was a player her team talked about after she was released by Indiana in April.

“We’ll see,” Reeve said. “She’s a good rebounder. I don’t think you should expect to see heavy minutes tonight necessarily — or ever. It’s more just to bolster that post group so that we’re making sure that we have bodies to get through this thing.”

Subsequently, the Lynx announced they have waived Christmas-Kelly, who was elected to serve as a co-captain of the 2020 Lynx team. The Lynx signed Christmas-Kelly as a free agent in 2019’s and her contract is guaranteed through 2021.

Reeve said she had “lengthy conversations” with Christmas-Kelly after her Achilles Tendon injury.

“Just making sure that she understood how much we appreciated her,” Reeve said. “I actually just told her that after our first game how much we appreciate her and how she conducts her business. Just reiterated that to her. We all feel badly about it. We just talked through everything, talked about how she did everything right, and that we supported her.”

The Lynx also informed Christmas-Kelly of their intent to claim McCall, and Reeve said Christmas-Kelly was “in the know” of the team’s plans.

“It’s one of those things you hope it’s not the end, meaning her relationship with the Lynx,” Reeve said. “We know she’s got a rehab ahead of her, and we’ll see what happens when we get to the other side of that.”