How Briann January helped Fever star Caitlin Clark through injuries

INDIANAPOLIS – Following an afternoon practice, the final one before a long-anticipated return from injury, Caitlin Clark sat on a basketball at midcourt.

It’s one of her trademarks during the Indiana Fever’s halfcourt shot contest, something they do before every game. She takes her shot, then collects the basketball and sits on it, watching her teammates take their shots.

Sometimes she exaggerates her reactions when her teammates make the shot. Once, she dramatically fell off the ball in defeat after teammate Sophie Cunningham made it, and another time, sunk her head in her hands after a Natasha Howard win.

But Tuesday afternoon, she just sat on the ball, having an extended conversation with assistant coach Briann January.

Clark was on the cusp of a return from a five-game absence because of a groin injury — her second injury of the short season so far. It was a frustrating few weeks for Clark, who missed five games with a quad strain, then only played four games in her return before missing five more with the new groin injury. 

January has been by her side the entire time.

“Coach Bri, she’s been through injuries herself, and she’s always kind of just been there,” Clark said before Indiana’s game against Golden State on Wednesday. “Even if I’m in the weight room extra after practice, like she’ll come in there and and talk to me and just help me work through the extra lifting that I have to do, because she’s experienced those type of things as a player, and she kind of knows how it goes, and knows that those days can get long. So I really appreciate her.”

Being an injured athlete can bring up a lot of emotions.

Frustration, first in suffering the injury, then in the recovery process and the potential setbacks. Impatience in how long the rehab process takes. Fear of re-aggravating the injury or suffering another one.

An injury, no matter how big or how small, is time-consuming — on top of attending (but not participating in) the team’s normal practice, players go through numerous types of rehab, have their own individual practice, and have to work harder to get back up to speed and reintegrate themselves. The amount of time that takes is exasperating.

“It’s been challenging mentally, just, you know, staying in it,” Clark said Tuesday. “You’re way more busy when you’re hurt than (when you’re playing). You’re coming in and all you do is, you know, scout, film and come out here and walk through things. I’ve been here for hours and hours on hours trying to get my body right and do everything I can to put myself in a position to be available the rest of the year.”

This is also the first time in six years as a pro or in Clark has had to miss time because of injury. She started all 139 games of her career at Iowa, then all 42 games (including playoffs) of her rookie season with Indiana.

Add in the four games she played at the start of the 2025 season, and she played 185 straight games before suffering an injury. That unusually long streak makes this stretch uncharted territory for Clark.

“I’m just extremely proud of her,” January said Thursday. “Navigating injuries is never an easy thing. And playing in this league for as long as I did, I had some experience with that, unfortunately. But I think more than anything, it’s part of being a pro. It’s not just coming out here and performing, it’s learning your body, how what you know, what recovery works best for you, how to get yourself in a position to be able to perform at your highest.”

January tore her ACL in June 2011, forcing her to miss most of the Fever season. She then tore her meniscus in the final game of the 2015 WNBA Finals, playing through the injury and having surgery following the season. She suffered a torn meniscus again in 2017, missing the final weeks of the Fever’s season along with minor foot injuries while she was a part of the Phoenix Mercury in 2019.

January knows a lot about coming back into the fold after an injury — particularly as a point guard.

“Bri has been through it. She’s been through it on a number of levels, and certainly been through it as a point guard, and so (Clark) having a resource who understands what you’re going through,” said Fever coach Stephanie White, who was January’s coach in 2014-15. “Being injured is not just hard because you’re injured, it’s hard mentally. … So to have a resource like Bri that she can lean on, that can communicate with her honestly and transparently about, yes, it’s frustrating, but it’s necessary.”

That’s what has made January a perfect mentor for Clark through the star guard’s first injuries of her career.

She’s been there when Clark needs to do extra reps in the weight room or do some individual practice. She’s there when Clark needs to vent her frustrations about these injuries, and she’ able to give her a WNBA veteran’s perspective on the best way to work through it, mentally and physically.

January makes sure Clark isn’t trying to rush back. Full health, and being able to stay healthy, is the most important thing in this league, and that can’t happen if recovery is rushed.

“It’s not just lace them up and hoop. Can’t do that anymore, right?” January said. “Like, the season is long, 44-game sprint. Taking care of your body is a real big priority. And I’m really proud of the way she’s kind of been attacking this.”

These 10 games Clark has been out with injury, has helped give her a new perspective.

When she was out with the quad strain earlier this season, the coaching staff gave her a job on the sidelines. She had to track the Fever’s offense, marking when they had three consecutive empty possessions. She was able to see the big picture of the Fever’s offensive strategy, not just her specific role within it.

She was also involved in some coaches’ meetings, January said, to see the coaching perspective of the game.

That kind of involvement between injured players and the coaching staff dates back all the way to when January was out with her torn ACL in 2011. The Fever coaching staff, which included White as an assistant, would bring January into coaches’ meetings to give her another perspective of the game.

That was invaluable for January, especially as a point guard and floor general. And the current Fever coaching staff hopes it can have the same effect with Clark.

“We were able to talk basketball and really dissect the game, and that helped me as a point guard come back,” January said. “I came back from my ACL injury after being able to sit in those coaches meetings in 2012, and I played the best basketball I had up until that point. We won a championship. And so that sitting out really helped me. And so, just from my experience, trying to help Caitlin in that same regard, like talk through the game, help her see it in a different perspective.”

Chloe Peterson is the Indiana Fever beat reporter for IndyStar. Reach her at capeterson@gannett.com or follow her on X at @chloepeterson67. Get IndyStar’s Indiana Fever and Caitlin Clark coverage sent directly to your inbox with our Caitlin Clark Fever newsletter.