Aliyah Boston spent most of 2026 playing through the pain.

The Indiana Fever's star center battled through a lateral meniscus tear throughout the 2026 season, which ended when the Fever was eliminated by the Las Vegas Aces in the first round of the WNBA playoffs.

Shortly after the season ended, Boston opted to undergo arthroscopic surgery on her right knee to repair the injury. It means she will miss out on a key offseason activity: Unrivaled.

MORE: Fever front office drama gets surprise Aliyah Boston explanation

The popular offseason 3-on-3 league revealed Wednesday that Boston will miss its 2027 season, which begins in January.

However, Boston is expected to return in 2028, when she is fully healthy again.

Unrivaled updates: - Aliyah Boston will miss the 2027 season due to ongoing recovery, but is expected to return in 2028 - Unrivaled and Kate Martin have reached a mutual contract termination agreement - Unrivaled has signed one-year deals with Isabelle Harrison and Kaitlyn Chen

— Myles (@MylesEhrlich) October 28, 2026

Boston dominated the 2026 Unrivaled season. She averaged 18.9 points, 9.7 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 2.1 blocked shots for Phantom BC and was named the league's Defensive Player of the Year. She set the single-season blocks record for the three-year-old league with 29.

Boston helped Phantom BC to the top record in Unrivaled at 11-3, though she missed out on the team's run to the championship game due to her knee injury. There, Phantom lost to Mist BC at Sephora Arena in Miami.

Though she surely would have wanted to defend her Defensive Player of the Year award in 2027, Boston sitting out Unrivaled to recover from her knee surgery is the best course of action for her -- not to mention the Fever, who handed her the WNBA's richest contract in April.

More WNBA news: