Mohegan — Allison Hightower is out indefinitely due to injury (again) for the Connecticut Sun after having cartilage removed from her right knee this March while playing in Israel.

“It could be worse,” Hightower said during Monday’s Connecticut Sun media day at Mohegan Sun’s Cabaret Theatre. “Look at (former teammate) Danielle McCray. … For her to go through another injury (a torn right anterior cruciate ligament in April), two ACL (injuries) and a (torn) Achillies (during her career), those are hard injuries to come back from. I don’t know why I’m complaining.”

“I saw her tear her ACL the last game of the season (in Israel).”

Five thousand miles away from Mohegan Sun Arena and still Hightower and McCray couldn’t escape the Sun’s injury curse.

Connecticut begins this year without its three best players and a reserve, coming off one of the worst years in franchise history (13-21) and its second straight losing season.

Post Chiney Ogwumike, last season’s WNBA Rookie of the Year, is out indefinitely after microfracture surgery on her right knee in late January.

Veteran guard Katie Douglas retired in May due to her bad back after being selected to play in the WNBA All-Star game last summer.

McCray, a reserve guard, was waived after her latest injury.

And then there’s Hightower. Hightower isn’t moping, but she’s well within her rights to do so.

“It’s like, ‘Did somebody sprinkle some (evil) dust on me that I need to shake off?’” Hightower said with a smile. “It’s rough.”

Injuries have been a bad broken record for the Sun ever since they relocated from Orlando in 2003. They’ve especially piled up after head coach Anne Donovan took over in 2013. Seven players missed a combined 75 games that year due to injuries and Connecticut finished that season with just seven healthy players.

It’s enough to make the Sun look to the heavens and yell, “why?!”

“That’s what I do at night,” Donovan said. “You don’t get more than you can handle. I’ve been taught that. These are the cards we’re dealt. There’s 16 players out there right now that are pretty eager to prove people wrong, so I’m excited."

Hightower has been unable to stay healthy since her 2012 breakout season. She’s missed 33 games over the past two years. That includes 20 last year after needing an arthroscopic debridement procedure on her left knee.

Hightower was playing in Israel this WNBA offseason when her left knee began bothering her again. The first MRI came back negative.

The knee didn’t get better, so Hightower had a second MRI done. The diagnosis was a torn meniscus. Except it wasn’t. A surgeon opened up her knee and saw it was cartilage.

“I think I would’ve preferred the meniscus to the cartilage,” Hightower said. “People always say, ‘Oh, it’s not the meniscus, great!’ … Meniscus, you’re pretty much good to go in 6-8 weeks. You’re just getting it cleaned out. And this is more like you have to let it heal and do its job.”

All the injuries leave the Sun with just six players who were with the team last season. They’ve added post Camille Little, wing Shekinna Stricklen and guard Jasmine Thomas via trades and draft picks Chelsea Gray and Elizabeth Williams.

“The only way you can look at it is it’s an opportunity for somebody else to step up,” Donovan said. “We’re going to need some people who can score some points for us. AT (second-year forward Alyssa Thomas) has got to get better and Camille has to fill in quickly. And I believe it’s all going to happen.

“It’s just a matter of time.”

n.griffen@theday.com

Twitter: @MetalNED