Caitlin Clark was downgraded from questionable to out for the Indiana Fever’s matchup with the reigning champion New York Liberty on Wednesday, the team announced. Clark tweaked her right groin during the Fever’s win over the Connecticut Sun on Tuesday and was in tears on the bench after checking out.
Late in the fourth quarter, Clark found Kelsey Mitchell with a nifty backdoor pass but came up hobbled. She grabbed the inside of her right leg and walked the length of the court in obvious pain. She put her head against the basket stanchion on the other end of the floor and was visibly upset.
“Just felt a little something in her groin so we’ll get it evaluated and see what happens from there,” Fever coach Stephanie White said after the game. Based on Clark’s injury designation, it appears that she has avoided a serious injury, which is great news for her, the Fever and the league.
Clark has already dealt with multiple injuries this season, missing 10 games in total — nine regular season and then the Commissioner’s Cup championship. She missed five games with a left quad strain and later sat out five more after injuring her left groin. This is uncharted territory for Clark, who did not miss any playing time for injury reasons at Iowa or during her WNBA rookie year.
The Fever have won three games in a row and sit in sixth place at 12-10. They are 8-5 with Clark in the lineup and 4-5 when she does not play.
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Clark’s absence against the Liberty does not come as a surprise given her previous injury issues and the upcoming All-Star Weekend in Indianapolis. Her availability for this weekend remains up in the air.
Clark was voted an All-Star captain and was set to participate in the 3-Point Contest on Friday before the game on Saturday night.
“Not much went into it other than ‘yes,'” Clark said of her decision to accept a spot in the 3-Point Contest. “Obviously it’s exciting, I’ve never participated in a 3-point competition before, never practiced before. Just go out there and have fun. I think the lineup of people competing is tremendous. So more than anything it’s just gonna be really great for our league and for women’s basketball as a whole just to have a lot of fun and experience that. I’m just excited. I think Friday, the Skills Competition and that will be a really exciting time, and then we’ll be right into Saturday for a really great game as well.”