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The Indiana Fever has had a tough season, given their star player, Caitlin Clark’s constant injuries. After a stellar rookie season, which included a Rookie of the Year nod and an All-WNBA first team appearance, Clark’s sophomore season faced a serious downturn as she spent most of the regular season on the sidelines.
Due to multiple back-to-back injuries, Clark was limited to playing 13 games this season, an all-time personal low. Needless to say, this severely limited the speed and margin of the Fever’s success during the season and doesn’t bode well for the playoffs as well.
Caitlin Clark ruled out
The Fever guard was officially ruled out of playing this season following a devastating fourth injury. Clark confirmed the same on September 5. As per Sporting News, she finished this season with an average of 16.5 points, 8.8 assists, 5.0 rebounds, and 5.1 turnovers.
“I had hoped to share a better update, but I will not be returning to play this season. I spent hours in the gym every day with the singular goal of getting back out there, disappointed isn’t a big enough word to describe how I am feeling. I want to thank everyone who had my back through all the uncertainty,” Clark posted on her social media.
“This has been incredibly frustrating, but even in the bad, there is good,” she continued, adding, “The way the fans continued to show up for me, and for the Fever, brought me so much joy and important perspective. I am so proud of how this team has only gotten stronger through adversity this year. Now it’s time to close out the season and claim our spot in the Playoffs.”
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Injury timeline
Clark’s first injury occurred on May 26 when she was announced to miss two weeks of games due to an issue with her quadriceps. The next injury followed through on June 24 when her left groin suffered a strain in a game against the Seattle Storm. Clark was forced to sit out the next five games, including the Commissioner’s Cup championship, and was placed back on the Fever’s lineup on July 9 as head coach Stephanie White implemented a gradual minutes restriction.
On her fourth game back from the injury (July 15), Clark “felt a little something in her groin” after delivering an assist to Kelsey Mitchell. She is the fourth Fever player to be ruled out for this season, apart from Sydney Colson (torn ACL), Aari McDonald (broken foot), and Sophie Cunningham (torn MCL).
The Fever will next be playing against the Atlanta Dream on Sunday (September 14) at 3 PM ET.
