Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark is currently sidelined with a right groin issue, her third different soft tissue injury this season. Sitting on the sidelines and going through rehab is a new experience for Clark, who prior to this summer had not missed a game due to injury since high school.
Over All-Star Weekend in Indianapolis, which she could not participate in, Clark spoke to Glamour and explained how her injury-riddled season has changed her perception of herself as an athlete.
“This is the first time I haven’t felt like a young body that can run around and sprint every day and just continue to do that,” Clark said. “Being a professional athlete, you really have to take care of both your body and your mind — it’s been a journey learning about that.”
The Fever have a sports psychologist on staff that Clark says she speaks to sometimes “multiple times a week, to not only talk about basketball but other things in life, and that’s something that’s been important to me over the course of my career.”
As Clark tries to make her latest return, she is using every possible treatment method available to her, including innovative approaches such as red-light therapy, dry needling and hyperbaric oxygen chambers, per Glamour. Clark also traveled with the Fever on their road trip to New York to take on the Liberty on Tuesday, and met with multiple doctors while she was in town.
After such a start-stop season, Clark and the Fever are doing all they can to ensure this is her last stint on the injury report. It’s still unclear when that will be. Fever coach Stephanie White said she had no update on Clark’s status prior to Tuesday’s game, and the team has not provided a timeline. For the sake of comparison, Clark missed three weeks with her first injury, a left quad strain, and two weeks with her second injury, a left groin issue. She injured her right groin last week, on July 15.
Clark has been limited to 13 games this season, and while she’s put up solid counting stats — 16.5 points, 5.0 rebounds and 8.8 assists — she has been mired in a dreadful shooting slump. Her shooting splits are down across the board, and she’s at 36.7% from the field, including 27.9% from 3-point range. Notably, she is just 2 of 35 from behind the arc on the road.
Despite Clark’s shooting slump, the Fever are 8-5 when she plays, compared to 4-6 without her. As much as the Fever want to give Clark the time to heal fully, they also want to make the postseason. Entering Tuesday, they were just 1.5 games ahead of the ninth-place Golden State Valkyries. The longer Clark remains out, the more difficult it’s going to be for the Fever to hang on to a playoff spot.
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