The Connecticut Sun still have four games remaining in the regular season, but they’re going to have to play those games without veteran forward Kennedy Burke who suffered an injury during the recent FIBA Women’s World Cup.

Kennedy Burke suffered a shoulder injury while playing for Turkey during the FIBA World Cup, and she has been ruled out for the last four games in the Sun’s season, the team announced. The former first round pick was in her first season with the organization, and was in the midst of a career year.

Burke signed a one-year contract with the Sun for slightly less than the league’s new max salary, and will be an unrestricted free agent in the coming offseason.

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For a young Sun team that dealt with an up and down season, Burke provided a veteran presence and stability. She had appeared in 37 games, including 14 starts, at a little over 23 minutes per game. She was averaging a career-best 8.8 points, 3.2 rebounds. 1.4 assists and 1.2 steals with splits of 40.1 percent shooting from the field, 32.4 percent shooting from the 3-point line and 71.3 percent shooting from the free-throw line.

The No. 22 overall pick in the 2019 WNBA Draft, the former UCLA star was in the seventh season in the league. She began her career playing back-to-back seasons with the Indiana Fever, one with the Seattle Storm and one with Washington Mystics.

After spending the 2023 season out of the WNBA, she returned in 2024 with the New York Liberty, playing a key role off the bench in the team’s championship run that year. She would play one more season with the Liberty before joining the Sun.