Parks and Rec Star Got a Bit Too Much Rec Last Weekend

Aubrey Plaza tears ACL in basketball skills challenge during WNBA All-Star Game event
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 22, 2024 10:30 AM CDT
Updated Jul 27, 2024 6:30 AM CDT
Parks and Rec Star Got a Bit Too Much Rec This Weekend
Aubrey Plaza is seen at the Cannes Film Festival in France on May 16.   (Photo by Scott A Garfitt/Invision/AP)

The faceoff between Team WNBA and Team USA at Saturday's WNBA All-Star Game in Phoenix handed a 117-109 win to the former, but as the Arizona Republic notes, "one of the best storylines from this year's game didn't happen during the game," or even involve any professional players. Instead, that narrative concentrated on Parks and Recreation star Aubrey Plaza, who was spotted with crutches at the event—which was odd, as she'd been seen earlier that day, sans crutches, heading into the Phoenix Mercury's new practice venue.

As it turns out, the 40-year-old Plaza entered the facility without an injury and left with one—a torn ACL, suffered after taking part in a "knockout" skills challenge on the court. At the later All-Star Game, Plaza was seen sitting next to WNBA legend Sue Bird and her partner, soccer star Megan Rapinoe, with Bird crouching down at one point to help Plaza adjust her ice packs. Us Weekly notes this is the second time that Plaza has torn her ACL, with the first happening during a 2016 rec league game in Los Angeles.

In what may now be seen as a foreshadowing of sorts, Plaza dished about that first injury on Friday during Bird and Rapinoe's A Touch More podcast. "In the middle of the game, I went up for a shot and tore my ACL on the court in a wig," Plaza said, per Deadline, which explains that Plaza had played in disguise for that game. "That's kind of like the worst-case scenario because I was trying to go undercover, and I just snapped my knee in half, basically." (More Aubrey Plaza stories.)

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