Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark will miss the remainder of the 2025 WNBA season, she announced on Thursday night. Clark hasn’t played since July 15 due to a groin injury, and her season is now over amidst a difficult rehab process.
Clark announced the news on social media, and she expressed frustration at her lack of progress. In spite of her personal setback, Clark called on the Fever to continue their playoff push without her in the lineup.
“I had hoped to share a better update, but I will not be returning to play this season,” Clark wrote. “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.
“This has been incredibly frustrating, but even in the bad, there is good. 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.”
After a historic Rookie of the Year campaign, Clark’s sophomore season was derailed by injuries.
She only played 13 times due to a left quad strain that kept her out for three weeks, a left groin injury that sidelined her for two weeks and now a right groin injury. Clark also suffered a left ankle bone bruise while rehabbing her current groin issue.
In 13 games, she averaged 16.5 points and 8.8 assists per game. Clark, however, shot just 27.9%from 3-point range on eight attempts per game. She was named an All-Star, but Clark missed out on the Commissioner’s Cup championship and All-Star weekend in her adopted home city of Indianapolis.
Second-year setback
|
Games |
13 |
40 |
|
PPG |
16.5 |
19.2 |
| APG | 8.8 | 8.4 |
| 3-PT% | 27.9% | 34.4% |
With less than a week before the Fever’s regular season ends and less than two weeks until the playoffs begin, Clark was still not a full participant in practice this week.
“She hasn’t been able to do a whole lot of contact,” Fever coach Stephanie White said. “She’s been able to get up-and-down 5-on-0, been able to do shooting, but hasn’t been able to get a whole lot of contact.”
Earlier this month, White said that she wants to see Clark participate in “multiple practices” before she returns to game action. She clarified that because the team will have limited practice time down the stretch, that doesn’t necessarily mean team practices, but could include 3-on-3 or 4-on-4 work.
“I want to see her in practice, live in practice,” White said. “I want to see her to continue to work to not just build endurance, but to be able to handle contact 94 feet as it’s going to be in game, and to be able to do that and sustain from an endurance standpoint, and that’s going to take multiple practices to make sure that there’s no regression. As most of us know, when we get fatigued, we look different. [We need to see] how she plays through fatigue.”
The Fever were 8-5 with Clark in the lineup and 13-14 without her. At 21-19, they currently hold the eighth and final playoff spot, but are just 1½ games up on the ninth-place Sparks. The Fever own the tiebreaker with the Storm but have lost the tiebreaker to the Sparks.
