Caitlin Clark continues her recovery, but still without a return date
Women’s basketball star Caitlin Clark is recovering from a right groin injury, according to Indiana Fever coach Stephanie White. Although she is showing progress, she has not yet been able to return to training. Clark suffered the injury in the last minute of a game against the Connecticut Sun on July 15. Her absence in the next game against the Dallas Wings, where she would face rookie Paige Bueckers, has already been confirmed. For the moment, there is no defined date for the return of one of the league’s most popular players.Clark started running all over the court last week. This season, Clark has had to miss 19 of 32 games due to three different muscle injuries. Despite this, Indiana has maintained a 10-9 record without Clark, including a 6-2 in their last eight games. The team has also suffered the losses of Sydney Colson and Aari McDonald, both due to injuries that will prevent them from playing the rest of the season. Colson suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee during last week’s game against Phoenix. McDonald will be out due to a fracture in a bone in his right foot, which occurred in the same match. Despite the adversities, with only nine active players and no pure point guards, Indiana managed to defeat the Chicago Sky with a score of 92-70 on Saturday. To reinforce the team, the Fever signed Odyssey Sims to an emergency contract on Sunday. Sims, during her 11-year career, averages 11.2 points, 3.8 assists and 2.5 rebounds, and was selected for the All-Star in 2019. Before her last injury, Clark, who was the WNBA Rookie of the Year last season, averaged 16.5 points, 8.8 assists, and 5.0 rebounds. In the offseason, the Fever invested in building a competitive team around Clark. Despite Clark’s absence, Indiana has an 18-14 record and is fifth in the standings, keeping them in the fight for home-court advantage in the first round.“He hasn’t trained again, but he has been able to run a little more across the court with all his body weight,” White explained after the training. “He’s going from doing the bare minimum to building endurance for longer periods. He has been able to do a little more on the court in terms of how he moves, but he’s not in shape to train.”
Stephanie White, coach of the Indiana Fever
