Caitlin Clark’s Road to Recovery Leaves Fever Facing Challenges
Caitlin Clark’s sophomore season in the WNBA hasn’t gone quite as planned. The Indiana Fever star, who set the league on fire during her Rookie of the Year campaign, is now sidelined for the 11th straight game with a right groin injury. The setback happened late in a win over the Connecticut Sun on July 15, and since then, there’s been no official timetable for her return. As of Monday, she still hadn’t returned to practice, and the team is being very deliberate in her recovery process.
Back on July 24, the Fever announced that Clark had undergone further medical evaluations, which fortunately revealed no additional injuries or damage. The focus now is on a careful, methodical rehabilitation, with her long-term health placed above any short-term push to get her back on the court. Head coach Stephanie White made it clear that the process is day-by-day — first rebuilding strength and conditioning before letting her resume full basketball activities.
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This isn’t the only bump in Clark’s season. She’s already dealt with a left quad strain that kept her out for three weeks and a left groin injury that cost her another two weeks. In total, she’s only been able to appear in 13 games so far this year. Along the way, she missed big moments like the Commissioner’s Cup championship and the All-Star weekend, which was held in Indianapolis.
For Clark, the time away from the court has been a whole new experience. Until this season, she hadn’t missed a single game due to injury since high school. She’s admitted it’s the first time she hasn’t felt like she had that “young body” capable of going all-out every day, and she’s learning firsthand just how much of being a pro is about caring for both body and mind.
When she has been able to play, the results have been a mix of flashes of brilliance and noticeable struggles. She opened the season with a triple-double and posted a 32-point game in her return from the first injury, but she’s also endured a prolonged shooting slump — hitting just 27.9% from beyond the arc for the season and only 2 of 35 from deep on the road. Despite that, she’s still averaging 16.5 points, 5 rebounds, and 8.8 assists, ranking second in the league in assists.
The Fever, currently 18-14, have gone 8-5 with Clark in the lineup and 10-9 without her. They’re holding onto the No. 5 playoff seed thanks to a tiebreaker over the Las Vegas Aces, but injuries have hit hard. Guards Sydney Colson and Aari McDonald are both out for the season, and Odyssey Sims has been signed on a hardship contract to help fill the gap.
Clark’s return will happen when her body says it’s ready — and for the Fever, that day can’t come soon enough.
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