The Indiana Fever’s point guard carousel continues to spin.
The Fever have lost guards Sydney Colson (left ACL tear), Aari McDonald (broken right foot) and Sophie Cunningham (MCL tear) for the year to season-ending injuries, leaving many fans wondering when Caitlin Clark is going to return to the court from her extended absence.
Clark is set to miss her 14th consecutive game due to a right groin injury when the Fever take on the Minnesota Lynx in a rematch of the 2025 WNBA Commissioner’s Cup title game on Friday, marking the 23rd game of the season Clark has missed.
There’s no official timetable for Clark’s return, but she experienced yet another hurdle after suffering a mild bone bruise in her left ankle during an individual workout session in Phoenix on Aug. 7. Fever head coach Stephanie White called Clark’s latest setback ‘really frustrating’ for the superstar.
‘Caitlin (Clark) wants to play. She’s a competitor. She just wants to be on the floor,’ White said after practice on Thursday. ‘She just wants to play basketball and she’s in the mindset that she’s hungry. She wants to be out there and that she wants to be with her team. She’s working her butt off to get back in those situations.’
White added: ‘Each time you have a tweak or each time you have something else, it’s frustrating, but it’s kind of the nature of the business. When you are an athlete, you are going to have some of these injuries. This is really the first time in her career that she’s had this string of ‘bad luck.’ … It’s emotionally and mentally draining as it is physically.’
Here’s what we know about Clark’s injury status, including a full injury timeline:
Is Caitlin Clark playing Friday? Injury status for Fever-Lynx
Clark (right groin injury) has been ruled out of the Fever’s matchup against the Minnesota Lynx on Friday in Minneapolis, which is set to tip off at 7:30 p.m. ET on ION. Earlier this week, White said Clark hasn’t returned to practice, which would mark an important step in her ramp-up.
‘Until (Clark) can get into practice… we’re really status quo,’ White said on Wednesday.
How was Caitlin Clark injured?
Clark suffered a right groin injury in the final minute of the Fever’s 85-77 victory over the Sun at TD Garden in Boston on July 15. With 39.1 seconds remaining in the contest, Clark completed a bounce pass to Kelsey Mitchell to put the Fever up 84-75. After the pass, Clark immediately grabbed for her right groin and grimaced as she gingerly walked over and headbutted the stanchion. She did not return.
Caitlin Clark injury timeline
May 24: Clark suffered a left quad injury during the Fever’s 90-88 loss to the New York Liberty, where she recorded a double-double with 18 points and 10 assists. Clark couldn’t pinpoint the specific play that caused her injury, but noted that it happened early in the contest. Clark said, ‘Adrenaline covers up a lot of stuff when you’re in the heat of battle. After the game, I had some pain, and then we got an MRI, and that kind of gave me the result that I didn’t want to see.’ She missed the Fever’s next five games.
June 14: Clark returned to Indiana’s lineup in the Fever’s 102-88 win over the Liberty and dropped 32 points, nine assists and eight rebounds in her first game back.
June 24: Clark suffered a left groin injury in the Fever’s 94-86 win over the Seattle Storm, which resulted in Clark missing the team’s next four games. Fever coach Stephanie White said she learned of Clark’s groin injury the following night after Clark alerted team trainers of discomfort.
July 1: Clark was ruled out of the Fever’s 2025 Commissioner’s Cup win over the Minnesota Lynx in Minneapolis. That didn’t stop Clark from rightfully celebrating the team’s hardware.
July 9: Clark returned to the Fever’s lineup in the Fever’s 80-61 loss to the Golden State Valkyries. Clark was limited to 10 points, shooting 4 of 12 from the field and 2 of 5 from the 3-point line, in addition to six assists, five rebounds and four turnovers. Following the blowout loss, Clark said it was ‘going to take me a second to get my wind back. … Just trying to get my legs under me.’
July 15: Clark suffered a right groin injury in the final minute of the Fever’s 85-77 victory over the Sun at TD Garden in Boston. White later confirmed Clark ‘felt a little something in her groin.’ This marked the last game for which Clark suited up.
July 18: Clark announced that she would sit out the 2025 WNBA All-Star Game in Indianapolis, where she was named a team captain. Clark was also set to participate in the 3-point contest. She said, ‘I am incredibly sad and disappointed to say I can’t participate … I have to rest my body.’
July 24: The Fever said Clark’s medical evaluations confirmed there’s ‘no additional injuries or damage,’ but the team said it will be cautious with Clark’s rehab and recovery.
August 7: Clark reportedly suffered a mild bone bruise in her left ankle while during an individual workout session in Phoenix on Aug. 7, according to The Indianapolis Star, part of the USA TODAY Network.
August 8: During an appearance on Sue Bird’s podcast, ‘Bird’s Eye View,’ Clark spoke about the frustrations of her injury-filled season: “It’s not like I have a training camp to build up to play in my first game again. It’s like no, you’re tossed into Game 30 — like, ‘Go try to play well.’ It’s hard, it really is.”
August 10: Fever coach Stephanie White said Clark has progressed in her recovery and has started running full court again, but Clark hasn’t returned to practice just yet: an important step in her ramp-up. ‘She’s been able to get a little bit more in her full-court running with all of her body weight… She’s been able to do a little more on the court in terms of how she moves, but not into practice yet,’ White said.
August 20: White confirmed that Clark has not returned to practice yet.
Caitlin Clark stats
Clark is averaging 16.5 points, 5.0 rebounds and a career-high 8.8 assists in 13 games this season. Her assists average is the second-highest in the league, behind Phoenix’s Alyssa Thomas (9.0).
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