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📍PORTLAND, Ore. — Sarah Ashlee Barker cemented herself in Fire history with a buzzer-beating putback to give the Portland WNBA expansion team its first win over the New York Liberty in May.
Just before the All-Star break, early in the first quarter of their July 22 loss to the Dallas Wings, Barker gave the Fire another, much more unfortunate milestone: the new franchise's first truly catastrophic injury, one that completely alters what the rest of their inaugural season will look like.
Four minutes into the game, Barker drove to the basket against Azzi Fudd and kicked out to Frieda Bühner, who knocked down a three-pointer to put the Fire up 9-3. Barker fell down out of bounds clutching her left knee after making the pass and was tended to by both the Dallas and Portland medical staffs before being helped off the court. Since it was a non-contact play, it wasn't much of a surprise two days later when the team officially announced that Barker had been diagnosed with a torn ACL and would be out for the remainder of the season.
"I was devastated," Emily Engstler said Monday after the Fire's first practice following the All-Star break, ahead of their flight to Las Vegas to face the Aces on Tuesday. "I think the whole organization was devastated for her."
The Fire's two best players in their first season has been Carla Leite and Bridget Carleton, but it's indisputable that Barker is the one who defines this team's identity. Since that game-winner back in May, she's become a fan favorite as a dogged, versatile defender, good rebounder for a guard and capable of making big shots. Fire head coach Alex Sarama on Monday called her the team's "heart and soul."
"S.A. has a lot of passion, obviously," Engstler said. "But specifically at home, you can tell. We've had some home games where she's made some crazy plays, and that kind of fire she brings to us is going to be missed. I'm hoping someone has to step up, whether that's someone coming off the bench or one of the starters."
Barker appeared in good spirits at practice on Monday, laughing and joking with teammates while she rebounded for them. The team's medical staff hasn't determined yet when she will undergo surgery, but Sarama said that will happen soon, once the swelling in her knee goes down.
"Luckily, she's still going to be in the locker room with us, so we get her personality and the vibe she brings," Carleton said. "This is just one little blip in an amazing basketball career ahead of her. She's still so young."
Now, the Fire are left to pick up the pieces and keep their playoff hopes alive without one of their most important players. It's not going to be an easy task.
"The hardest thing is how to get our defense to where it needs to be," Sarama said. "We were in such a good place before S.A.'s injury. Even our losses were close against really good teams. We had so much momentum. Now the challenge is, how can we sustain that? The hardest thing is going to be making sure we're not skipping a beat defensively, because you saw everything S.A. offensively, but what wasn't always evident was how elite she was as a defender. We're putting her on and off the ball, putting her on the hardest assignments. That's going to be the hardest thing to replace."
They'll have a tough first two tests without Barker after a hard-fought comeback against Dallas that ended in a loss: Las Vegas on Tuesday and Indiana on Friday.
It's unclear exactly who will fill Barker's role. Nyadiew Puoch, who began the season in the starting lineup before Barker replaced her, will see extended minutes, as will Karlie Samuelson. Sarama also said he wants to get a more extended look at the little-used Holly Winterburn now that Barker's spot in the rotation is open.
It's going to be a continuation of the experimentation he's done all season.
"Our focus has been development-first," Sarama said. "That's how I view this now, where it's a great opportunity for other players to step up. I don't necessarily view this as a straight swap of S.A.'s minutes for someone else. It's a lot more complex than that. I think this is two or three players getting more minutes and opportunities, versus S.A.'s minutes just being re-allocated."
At 11-16, the Fire are currently two and a half games back of the eighth and final playoff spot. They have to make up that ground without Barker.
"We're going to feel it at first," Engstler said. "But at the end of the day, we're pros and we've got to find a way to fill that gap."
Since the start of the season, Barker has become a symbol of the collection of cast-offs that make up an expansion team. A former top-10 pick by the Los Angeles Sparks in 2025, she was the 18th player out of 22 selected in the two-team expansion draft between Portland and Toronto. She proved herself to be a hard-nosed two-way player, but also an integral part of the culture the Fire are trying to build in their first season.
That's what makes this loss so tough.
"I'm not even talking production and basketball-wise, just in terms of the character and the person," Sarama said. "We're going to have an epic offseason now and she's going to bounce back stronger than ever."
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