The fate of the Indiana Fever looks pretty simple. If Caitlin Clark comes back from her injury, then they can have a deep postseason run and even be contenders. If she doesn’t, it’s looking pretty bleak for Stephanie White’s team. Clark has missed 12 consecutive games with her right groin injury, and the sadder part is that there was little indication that the injury was so serious. 

Playing against the Connecticut Sun, Clark made a smooth bounce pass to a cutting Kelsey Mitchell. It was a pass she had made hundreds of times throughout her career, but this turned out to be different. Suddenly, she grabs the inside of her right thigh, and the expression on her face reads of frustration and pain. A simple play like that triggered her injury, and her return was cut short to just four games. While rumors swirled that White rushed Clark back too soon, this analyst offers a bold alternative to the root of Clark’s recurring injuries.

Maria Marino said on ESPN’s WNBA Hoop Streams, “But honestly, I think that was part of Caitlin just never having truly experienced an injury like this in her career and not really understanding her body and whether or not she really was ready to play.”

When Clark missed the preseason game against the Washington Mystics earlier in the season, it was the first time she had since her high school days. The point guard didn’t miss a single game between her four years at Iowa and her rookie WNBA season, playing in at least 206 consecutive contests, according to ESPN. Suddenly, she had one soft tissue injury after another, where the progress is not very clear for a third person to see. It all depends on how Clark is feeling, and her lack of history with injuries affected her judgment. 

Like Sophie Cunningham called it, “It’s such, like, a weird injury.” while further explaining that Clark’s pain comes and goes from time to time. After her initial judgment blew back in her face, Clark has been affected mentally by this barrage of injuries. Clark herself said the same thing on Sue Bird’s ‘Birds Eye View Podcast’, “I’ve never been through anything like this. I think that’s probably why it’s been so hard.” before further accepting, “When I first was feeling pain, I didn’t understand it.”

You would never think that the lack of injuries would be a problem for someone. But once you do inevitably get injured, that plays against you. Like Caitlin Clark explained, “I didn’t know. I was like, ‘Am I just tight? Am I just getting old? Do I need to hit a stretch? going on here?” This confusion makes things so much worse, as the injury could be fully healed and Clark wouldn’t even know, and vice versa. While the Fever are taking things slow with her recovery, Marino further set things straight that Clark will be back as soon as she feels right, while raising an important question. 

She said, “What I would stress, too, is that if Caitlin is ready to play, she will play. I mean, she is that type of competitor where, you know, that’s not going to hold her back of like, well, I just want to be careful and be safe. If she is good to go, if she has that bill of health. But the big question is, will that clearance be there, you know, by the regular season, and if they make it to the postseason for the playoffs?”

Stephanie White had a pretty grim update on Clark’s progress to answer this question before their Sun game, “That’s the hope,” White simply said. Resting on fate for Clark’s return is a pretty long bet. Things look even worse when Lisa Leslie expressed her experience with such injuries while implying that it may never heal for Clark. 

She expressed that she “can still feel that injury linger” while playing tennis. “This is gonna be a tough injury that she’s gonna have to manage,” Leslie explained. However, these are only theories, and the fans are still holding out hope that Clark will be back up and running the show by the postseason. Even with Caitlin Clark and a host of others still out, the Fever are trusting themselves to make it. 

The Indiana Fever Don’t Plan on Giving In

The entire WNBA has been rocked by injuries. Minnesota have Napheesa Collier out. The New York Liberty had Jonquel Jones missing for more than a month, and now Breanna Stewart’s on the sidelines. Chicago has Angel Reese with an injured back. But no one has been hit with injuries like the Indiana Fever. Every time they find some sort of momentum, one or two of their key players go out. However, they are not making this as an excuse to give up, as evidenced by their Connecticut comeback. 

Aliyah Boston said after that game, “We talk about injuries, people are probably expecting us to fold. And that’s not us. We come to the locker room, and we are motivated every single time we step on that floor.”

Kelsey Mitchell had just four points after that first half. It seemed she was missing everything, and the day wasn’t hers. However, she “willed” the Fever to come back from that 21-point deficit. Boston herself was having a tough time dealing with the Sun defense and had had weak first halves this season. But every time, she has managed to come back in the second half and lead the Fever to wins. Caitlin Clark herself still has hope alive after her excited reaction to their Sun win. 

Their 7-day emergency point guard, Odyssey Sims, had 19 points in her first start with the team. It seems the team atmosphere just brings out the best in every new player. It happened with Aari McDonald and could happen with Sims, too. Stephanie White was visibly emotional after that emphatic victory, and this was a performance that could define their season. Even with the difficult stretch coming their way with the Minnesota Lynx twice on the schedule, White and Co. are determined to take things head-on.