After injury-plagued and disappointing season, Sky’s Stefanie Dolson aims to put career — and health — back on track

After a subpar 2020 season, center Stefanie Dolson is feeling the pressure to make some changes this offseason.

Dolson offered a brutally honest assessment of her 2020 performance after the Sky’s first-round loss to the Sun on Sept. 15.

“Obviously I’m not super thrilled with my personal season,” Dolson said. “It was extremely disappointing and frustrating for me to not be able to give more to my team.”

Looking back, Dolson said her conditioning wasn’t where it should’ve been when the Sky opened training camp in July in Bradenton, Florida. Dolson admitted that, like most of us, “quarantining was not good to me when it came to being in shape.”

Along with being out of shape, Dolson, who had a brief bout with the coronavirus in March, had a nagging foot injury that limited her to just 15 games. Her playing time dropped from 25 minutes per game in 2019 to 18.2 in 2020 as she tried to play through injuries. She averaged 6.4 points — her lowest mark since her rookie season — and she posted a career-low 3.5 rebounds.

“I think everyone has those seasons or years where they kind of struggle or things happen like injuries, but I feel like I tried to do the best that I could with what 2020 dealt me,” said Dolson, who was in a walking boot at the end of the season. “It was extremely disappointing and frustrating for me to not be able to give more to my team.

“When it comes to me personally, it’s not about my stats, it’s not about anything like that, it’s just about feeling like I couldn’t do enough to help my teammates and that’s a really big part of my game that I knew ... that was hard for me.”

The seven-year veteran continued by saying that the Stefanie Dolson that was on display in 2020 isn’t the player she wants to be.

“I know [what] I can do,” Dolson said. “I’ve been an All-Star two times in my career for a reason, and I want to be back to that Stef.”

Like most players, Dolson supplements her income by playing overseas during the offseason. However, she usually plays in the Women’s Chinese Basketball Association, which is a shorter schedule compared to other overseas leagues, or half seasons in Europe.

But that won’t be the case this year.

Dolson is planning to play a full season with Famila Schio in Italy. She reported to the team this week.

During that time, she said she’s going to focus on every aspect of her game — from playing tenacious defense to screening and rolling. More importantly, Dolson said her top priority this offseason is making sure she gets in tiptop shape so she’s better prepared for next season.

“It’s been a long ongoing thing when it comes to me being able to be in shape,” said Dolson, who has one year left on her contract. “So I’m excited to be over there the entire time that way I [can] come into training camp next year in shape, in a game-[ready] mindset right away. I’m just looking forward to contributing what I know I can do. ... I just have to put in the work.”