Caitlin Clark injury: Fever star’s quad strain will snap incredible streak that dates back to high school

Of all Caitlin Clark’s skills, availability is her most underrated. Everyone knows about her incredible long-range shooting and brilliant playmaking, but her flair and slight frame may obscure the fact that she’s been an iron woman throughout her career. 

Clark will be forced to the sidelines for the first time in her professional career — not including preseason games — due to a left quad strain, which the Indiana Fever announced on Monday. The injury will keep Clark off the court for a minimum of two weeks. 

During that stretch, Clark will miss at least four games, starting with Indiana’s matchup against the Washington Mystics on Wednesday. It’s unclear if Clark will travel with the team during her recovery process, but whether she’s on the bench in street clothes in D.C. or sitting at home in Indianapolis, she won’t be playing for the first time in nearly eight years.

The last time that Clark missed a non-preseason game was Nov. 18, 2017, when she was still a sophomore in high school. Kristin Meyer, Clark’s coach at Dowling Catholic in West Des Moines, told Christine Brennan in her forthcoming book that it “about killed” Clark to have to sit out. 

We don’t have Clark’s full game logs from high school, but during her time at Iowa she played in every possible game between the regular season, Big Ten Tournament and NCAA Tournament. And during her rookie season with the Fever, she played in every regular season and playoff game. 

All told, Clark has appeared in 185 consecutive games: 139 with the Hawkeyes and 46 with the Fever. That streak will come to an end on Wednesday. 

Caitlin Clark injury: Fever coach explains how WNBA star can use absence as ‘opportunity for growth’

Jack Maloney

When could Clark return from injury?

The earliest possible return for Clark is June 10 against the Atlanta Dream, but it’s certainly possible that her absence could stretch beyond two weeks. Considering the nature of the injury and her importance to the team, the Fever will not rush her back. 

“When you think about Caitlin and her not wanting to miss games, she’s obviously a competitor and wants to play, obviously everyone wants to watch her play, you know?” Fever coach Stephanie White told reporters on Monday. “But for me, it’s maintaining perspective, right? It’s making sure that we address this in a way that doesn’t affect long-term, that we take care of it. Don’t over-push, don’t overexert, making sure that we take the long-game approach to this, so that we’re not having lingering issues throughout the course of the season. 

“Sometimes great players don’t tell you when they’re hurting. I’m glad that she did, because we need to nip this in the bud.”

Clark won Rookie of the Year last season during a historic campaign in which she led the Fever to the playoffs for the first time since 2016. After watching Clark take the league by storm, the Fever embarked on an ambitious offseason. They hired White as their new coach and acquired a number of veterans, including DeWanna Bonner, Natasha Howard, Sophie Cunningham and Sydney Colson — the latter of which will be relied upon heavily without Clark. 

Throughout training camp, Clark and the Fever made it clear that they expect to compete for a championship this season. In order to do so, they’ll need Clark at 100%. 

Clark off to up-and-down start in second season

While Clark started the season with a triple-double in their dominant win over the Chicago Sky, she had not been at her best in recent games. She failed to make a 3-pointer in their win over the Atlanta Dream on May 22, snapping a 140-game streak that dated back to her Iowa days, and shot 6 of 18 with 10 turnovers in their loss to the New York Liberty on May 24. 

White said that she is unsure when Clark’s injury happened, but that her star point guard reported the pain in her quad after the Liberty loss. Though Clark’s injury is not ideal for the Fever as they try to gain continuity with all of their new pieces, White is hopeful that Clark can learn from this process. 

“I think it’s a great opportunity for Caitlin to watch the game from the sideline, to grow in a coaching kind of mindset,” White said. “And see some different things that we might be talking about on film, addressing in practice — to see it develop in live action. 

“As players you see [the game] in a micro viewpoint, and when you’re on the sideline and you’re watching it as a whole, you get to see it a different way from a macro viewpoint. I think it’s gonna give her a unique perspective, and she’s gonna come back better and it’s gonna help us be better.”