The WNBA's first All-Star Game in Indianapolis was expected to be a crowning achievement for Caitlin Clark in her second season. She was named a captain in Saturday's All-Star Game and planned to participate in the 3-point challenge on Friday. Instead, Clark will again watch from the sidelines, a sight that has become all too familiar this season.
Clark never missed a game during four years at the University of Iowa or during her rookie WNBA season in 2024, but three separate injuries have sidelined the Indiana Fever guard for 10 regular-season games this summer (as well as the Commissioner's Cup final, which doesn't count toward team records). Most recently, a right groin sprain suffered in a game on July 15 has forced Clark out of the All-Star Game, where she was the leading vote-getter in fan balloting.
Last year's Rookie of the Year and a 2024 first-team All-WNBA selection, Clark is averaging 16.5 points, 8.8 assists, 5.0 rebounds and 1.6 steals this season, appearing in 13 games.
Clark's absences have put a damper on an Indiana season that started with real promise. After making the postseason for the first time since 2016 last year, the Fever entered this season with high hopes after a busy offseason that included several key free agent acquisitions and bringing back Stephanie White for her second stint as Fever head coach. Indiana (12-11) sits in sixth place in the WNBA standings at the All-Star break.
We track Clark's injuries, absences and shooting this season, as well as key personnel moves that have impacted the Fever.
May 3: Left leg soreness sidelines Clark for Indiana's exhibition opener
Clark, who dealt with a left quad injury during training camp, sits out the Fever's first preseason game, a 79-74 overtime victory over the Washington Mystics, with what she describes as quad tightness.
But Clark plays the following day when the Fever beat the Brazilian national team 108-44 in an exhibition game at Iowa's Carver-Hawkeye Arena, punctuating the night with a 36-foot 3-pointer from just behind the spot on the court that has her No. 22 logo affixed.
May 26: Left quad sprain sidelines Clark
Indiana opens the season 2-2 -- losing its two games by a combined three points -- but nine days into the season, the Fever announce Clark will miss at least two weeks with a left quad sprain. While on the same leg, a team spokesman said it's a different injury from what Clark dealt with in the preseason.
White said Clark wasn't sure when the injury happened but had reported some pain in her leg after a May 24 loss to the New York Liberty.
Clark misses five games from May 28-June 10; Indiana goes 2-3 in that span.
June 2: Fever sign McDonald to bolster depleted backcourt
Indiana picks up 5-foot-6 point guard Aari McDonald via emergency hardship exception after the Fever fall below 10 available players -- Sophie Cunningham and Syndey Colson were also out with brief injuries.
On June 3, after Indiana has lost its first two games without Clark, McDonald comes off the bench for the Fever against Washington. She posts 7 points, 5 assists and 3 steals in 27 minutes.
McDonald is waived on June 13, per CBA rules, once Clark and Cunningham are ruled available.
June 14: Clark returns, drops 32 points in first game in 21 days
Clark makes a statement in her first game back, totaling 32 points, 9 assists and 8 rebounds to hand the New York Liberty their first loss of the season. Clark scores 25 points by halftime, fueled by a stretch in the first quarter where she drains three consecutive 3-pointers, the first from 33 feet. She nails a 27-footer 21 seconds later, and a 31-footer 22 seconds after that. She finishes with seven treys.
Clark, who accounts for 54 of Indiana's points through her scoring and passing in the 102-88 victory over the defending WNBA champs, plays 31 minutes, 18 seconds, and says after the game that she felt fine other than being a little winded a few times.
"My legs felt really strong. I felt in good shape," she said.
June 26: Clark is ruled out again
Clark plays in five consecutive games -- the Fever go 3-2, including a 94-86 win at the Seattle Storm on June 24 to snap a two-game losing streak on the road. But Clark, who shoots 0-for-6 on 3-pointers against the Storm, is ruled out two days later due to a left groin sprain ahead of a home game against the Los Angeles Sparks.
White says before the game she found out about the injury late the previous night, after the team's training staff had taken Clark for an MRI.
Before she's sidelined again, Clark goes 1-for-23 from the 3-point line in a three-game stretch.
July 9: Clark returns but Fever fall below .500
In her first game in 15 days, Clark tallies 10 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists and 4 turnovers in just less than 25 minutes in an 80-61 loss to the Golden State Valkyries.
The loss drops the Fever to 9-10 on the season -- 5-5 with Clark on the floor and 4-5 without her.
White says the Fever's "lack of competitive fire" led to the loss.
July 15: Clark suffers right groin injury; shooting woes continue
The Fever reel off three straight wins as the All-Star break approaches, improving their record to 12-10, two games above .500 for the first time this season. But in the final minute of an 85-77 win over the Connecticut Sun, Clark pulls up as she's driving toward the basket, dishes a bounce pass and then holds the inside of her right thigh. Visibly frustrated, briefly resting her head against the stanchion, Clark leaves the court while fighting back tears, eventually covering her head with a towel.
Clark finishes with 14 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists, including nine points and two assists in the fourth quarter.
But Clark shoots 1-for-7 on 3-point attempts, hitting just her second 3 on the road this season. In her four games before the latest injury, Clark is 6-for-26 (23.1%) from downtown.
After the game, White tells reporters Clark "felt a little something in her groin."
July 16: Clark misses her 10th regular-season game
Clark, who team officials say underwent imaging Wednesday to determine the extent of the injury, sits out her 10th regular-season game. Indiana loses 98-77 at the New York Liberty.
White says she will defer to the Fever's athletic training staff on the test results, but adds, "I consider it good news" because "anything that we're talking about still day-to-day is always good news for me."
July 17: Clark announces she will sit out All-Star Game, 3-point contest
Clark announces she will miss Friday's 3-point contest and Saturday's All-Star Game in Indianapolis.
"I'm incredibly sad and disappointed to say I can't participate," Clark writes in a statement shared by the Fever on social media. "I have to rest my body."
