EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsIt was the kind of game Caitlin Clark never wants to play. She had missed the past two contests with a back issue, and while she had been given the green light to return, she was on a minutes restriction.The Indiana Fever coaches and medical staff were looking out for her, but the limitation made the guard grimace."It's just really hard when you're playing three minutes [then] out three minutes," Clark said after the Fever's 106-92 loss in Los Angeles to the Sparks on July 8. She struggled to find a rhythm, hitting 4 of 12 shots, including 1-for-6 on 3-pointers, to finish with nine points in 16 minutes, her second-lowest scoring total of the season."I didn't get to have a feel for the game like I usually do."But the irritation lifted as she walked toward the team bus after treatment on her back."My body feels great, so that's the positive you take from today," Clark said.She sat out the Fever's game the next night at Phoenix as planned. But Clark has played every game since, dropping a career-high 45 points against the Seattle -- the first 40-point, 10-assist performance in WNBA history -- nine days after that defeat to the Sparks. She has had four double-doubles over the past three weeks and has helped lift the Fever in the process. They are 7-3 since that loss at Crypto.com Arena and are in the hunt for one of the top four seeds in the WNBA playoffs.As ESPN analyst Rebecca Lobo put it just after the All-Star break, "We're once again feeling sort of the power and presence of Caitlin Clark when she's playing at full speed."Clark, 24, is in her third year in the WNBA. She played just 13 games last season because of injuries. Now, she seeks to continue her pace as the Fever head into the last 13 contests of this regular season.Clark has played 80 games in her WNBA career heading into Saturday's matchup with Chicago (3:30 p.m. ET, ABC). She is the fastest player in WNBA history to reach 1,500 points and 500 assists and already has more 20-point, 10-assist games (18) than any WNBA player.Clark's fame, of course, is immense. Just how good is her game? She has seemingly returned to the form she displayed during a record-breaking rookie campaign in 2024 -- and improved in a few areas -- although there are things she must continue to work on."I know I'm under a microscope always and my play is always going to be judged," said Clark, who was named to the U.S. women's national team roster for September's FIBA World Cup on Thursday. "I understand that. I feel like I'm playing the best basketball of my career."An offensive powerhouseClark has been an elite offensive player since she stepped into the WNBA. The top scorer in college basketball history (3,951 points), she also had 1,144 assists and 990 rebounds at Iowa.Clark played every game as a rookie after being the No. 1 pick in 2024. Groin, quad and ankle injuries derailed last season. This year, she has played in 27 of the Fevers' 31 games. She is averaging 21.5 points and 8.0 assists -- which ranks in the top three in the league in both categories -- and 4.0 rebounds while shooting 44.6% from the field, 34.9% from 3-point range and 86.9% from the line.As a WNBA rookie, Clark averaged 19.2 points, 8.4 assists and 5.7 rebounds while shooting 41.7% from the field, 34.4% from 3-point range and 90.6% from the line. Because her play was limited in 2025 by injuries, the best progress comparisons are made between 2024 and this season. In that regard, a few things stand out.In 2024, her offensive efficiency (points produced per 100 possessions) was 104.2 and defensive efficiency was 106.6, giving her a net of minus-2.4. But this year, while her defensive efficiency is nearly identical -- 108.2 -- her offense is at 113.9, giving her a net of plus-5.8.Her usage rate (an estimate of the percentage of team plays used by a player when they are on the floor) has gone up from 26% in 2024 to 31% this season, and she's taking more 2-pointers. The percentage of shots she took from 2-point range in 2024 was 38.8; now it's 49.7. In short, this season Clark is as likely to shoot from 2-point range as she is from 3-point distance. And Clark's player impact estimate (PIE) -- the WNBA's metric for measuring efficiency -- is 16.2 this season, compared to 13.5 in 2024On the downside, Clark -- who led the WNBA in made 3-pointers in 2024 -- has shot below 40% from the field in 12 games, although seven of those happened before June 18.In Thursday's 86-84 overtime loss to Las Vegas, Clark made some huge plays in the second half but also missed two late free throws and shot 35% (7 of 20) from the field. It was a game that showed both the best of Clark and the things she knows she still has to improve.Basketball analyst Debbie Antonelli, in her 21st year broadcasting Fever games, said one of Clark's key skills is to "see the nine," meaning she always seems to know where everyone from both teams is on the court. Offensively, that's part of how Clark is so quick to recognize opportunities and anticipate what's next before it happens."You're not always consciously aware of that," Clark said of her sense of all nine players around her. "You're just playing the game and reading the defense. But I think it speaks to how much basketball I've played over the course of my life."I've always had a knack for passing, even when I was a young girl. A lot of that is just from the anticipation I have of the way my teammates play and the way they cut. Most of the teams I've been on, it was about how you're going to share the ball and get your teammates open. It was never about one-on-one basketball or just making a play for yourself." Clark has especially good chemistry with fellow All-Stars Kelsey Mitchell and Aliyah Boston. The trio has led the Fever to 14 games of 100 points or more, a WNBA record."It's super exciting -- we play at a great pace," Boston said. "It's fun to be a part of, and I know it's fun for fans to see."Antonelli said Clark also excels at knowing how to "make the defense wrong." Whatever opponents throw at her, she has become adept at having an answer."I give credit to soccer," Clark said of the time she spent on the pitch growing up. "You have to read and understand angles. And with a lot of the off-ball cutting you see me and Kelsey score on, and even with AB -- especially in transition -- you have to understand how to manipulate the defense. Get them to move where you want them to go."Boston, the 2023 No. 1 draft pick, clicked with Clark immediately in 2024. They've continued to evolve together."Our pick-and-roll game is great," Boston said. "For me, making sure that I'm able to be where she needs me to be, but also be able to find her. And with my ability to push the pace a little bit, finding her in transition, making sure I set great screens and get her open. We've really been able to build that chemistry. I think our connection has just grown."An evolving defenderDefense is the area in which opponents have tried to pick on Clark. This season, especially, they have attempted to isolate her as much as possible, a common tactic against someone who carries such a heavy load on offense and who opponents believe can sometimes struggle against speedier players.According to GeniusIQ data through Sunday's games, Clark has defended 75 direct isolations this season, 27 more than any other player, and allowed 1.19 points per iso. That is fourth worst among the 28 players who have defended 35 direct isolations this season. In her first season, Clark defended 45 direct isolations and allowed 0.8 points.Opponents have shot 49.0% with Clark as the closest defender in 2026. In the same scenarios in 2024, opponents shot 39.9%.It's important to consider that Clark plays in a different system defensively now under coach Stephanie White than she did in 2024 under then-coach Christie Sides. Also, scoring is up across the WNBA this season: The league's current scoring average is 87.3 vs. 81.7 in 2024.Still, Clark knows that her defense is a work in progress, and she is determined to make it better."I think when I can really keep people in front, I can guard pretty well," Clark said. "And then I think [getting] deflections ... sometimes I'll play with my hands down a lot, and Steph's always on me to get my hands out. I have long arms; I can read passing lanes. So just an area for me to continue to improve there."Clark also knows she has to continue to study opponents to better learn their strengths and weaknesses and then figure out how to take advantage of them on defense."I think just using my IQ. Like being in spots early," Clark said. "I think on the ball, I'm usually fine. But off the ball, I can get caught watching a little bit. As you mature through your career and you know the players better as you go, it makes it a little bit easier. You know what people want to do, and [learn to] make them do the thing that they don't want to do."Defensive rebounding is another key for Clark. She averaged 5.3 defensive rebounds in 2024 compared to 3.7 this season. "She made a comment to me after one game that the ball used to find her on the defensive end," White said. "I said, 'Well, you've got to go find it now, right?' She's a big guard, and she has a great feel for [rebounding]."But I feel like early in the season she was standing and watching more, rather than going to get the defensive rebound. When she gets it, it allows her to start the break sooner."Mitchell points that out to Clark, too. Mitchell knows Memphis men's basketball coach Penny Hardaway and said he gave her some guard-to-guard advice."He always says the best ways for guards to score is to get defensive stops," Mitchell said. "For me, that was like, 'OK, if I can get one or two more steals a game, anticipate more, then that's more points created.' And for CC, I think it's rebounding. I said to her, 'If you get two more rebounds [a game], you get to go in transition more."When you can get a rebound or get a deflection and a steal, you have the ball in your hands and don't have to rely on anyone else. I think it's important for both of us to find ways to be more efficient as guards. You can be more efficient offensively with better defense. That can add a layer with CC -- she has everything else."Balancing preparation with preservationClark has always been comfortable in the spotlight with the game on the line in packed arenas. But she also relishes the quiet, disciplined hours spent practicing. She never missed a game at Iowa, and on non-game days she was often at Carver-Hawkeye Arena working on something."I lived there," Clark said.But Clark said she has gained the perspective that serious injuries can provide. Athletes must listen to not just their bodies but to advice from the team of experts around them. Less sometimes can be more when it comes to working out."It's a long season," Clark said. "Part of being a pro is you do a lot of your work in the offseason. That's one of the biggest ways I've grown from college to now. You have to find ways to take care of your body."The mentality to keep pushing as a competitor has its place for any athlete, but Clark has also learned "that can sometimes get you in trouble." So she must also figure out how to do things that aren't as physically taxing but will still help her improve, such as ballhandling drills that don't require her to move much but get her to focus on hand-eye coordination and breathing."And then a lot of visualization. Especially when you come back from injury, you need to see yourself in the moment and feel good about yourself," she said. "And reading before games calms me down. [All of that] is really important to me. It wasn't always important from the beginning of my career and when I was in college. But there are little areas that are going to give you an advantage over your opponent."I am really proud of myself for my resiliency, my belief in myself and my confidence. That certainly comes from the amount of time I've put in and all the people who've poured into me to allow me to have that."The 2026 season already has been a big step forward from 2025's injury-thwarted season, when Clark missed the All-Star Game in her home arena in Indianapolis and had to watch the Fever battle to within one win of going to the WNBA Finals before falling to the eventual champion Las Vegas Aces.This year, she was back in the All-Star Game, where she had 17 points and five assists in Team Spoon's victory. There remains plenty left for Clark and Indiana to accomplish this season. But the way Clark has been playing is encouraging."She knows how other teams are trying to play her," White said. "Offensively, they want to force her to drive to the rim, and she's doing a good job getting there and finishing. She's better at embracing contact and getting to the foul line. Her pace is better. She's not allowing the defense to get her rushed or get her off her line."And I think first and foremost, handling injury adversity is hard. Last year, she was just in that [adversity] so much. Now she has a better understanding of her body, when she feels comfortable, when she doesn't, when something feels a bit out of whack. She's started to recognize the moments where maybe pushing through isn't the best decision. It's easy to get frustrated, easy to get down and that's the resilience she's really grown in."
