Indiana Fever superstar Caitlin Clark is struggling with the first major injury of her WNBA career.
Clark has dealt with a nagging groin injury that kept her out for a stretch of games in June and then re-aggravated itself in mid-July and has seen her miss each contest since – including the WNBA All-Star Game.
Speaking on the ‘Bird’s Eye View’ podcast with WNBA legend Sue Bird, Clark opened up about how she’s dealing with the recovery process.
‘There’s just been so much to manage. … Obviously, I feel like that’s been a huge part of this year,’ said Clark, who doesn’t have a timetable to return to the court after missing nine-straight games.
‘It’s just been so challenging being active and then playing four games, and then not — and then not feeling the best and then I’m frustrated about how hard I’ve worked in the offseason, and then all I do is rehab and continue through this process, and just trying to trust that the best I can.
‘Obviously, there are really frustrating days and there are days where it’s a little bit easier and you’re very motivated and you’re close to the finish line of getting back and being back.
Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark has opened up about the injury that has sidelined her for weeks
Clark spoke with Sue Bird (R) about the nagging groin problem which has kept her out since mid-July – causing her to miss nine games as well as the WNBA All-Star Game in Indanapolis
Clark does not have a timetable to return to the court for the Fever as she continues her rehab
‘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.’
The injury initially kept Clark out for four games from late June until early July. She returned to play four more games, but re-aggravated her injury against the Connecticut Sun on July 15.
‘I think it has given me really good perspective on what a lot of my teammates and teams I’ve been a part of [and] what certain people have had to go through,’ she said.
‘I’ve never been through anything like this. I think that’s probably why it’s been so hard, because I’ve never really dealt with injury.
‘And that’s probably been a challenge in itself because when I was first feeling pain, I didn’t understand it? I was like, ‘Am I just getting tight? Am I just getting old? Do I need to hit a stretch? Do I need to get rubbed out? Do I need some Icy Hot? What’s going on here?’
‘So I think it’s been a balance of understanding my body. Whether it’s this year or whether it’s next year and even throughout my career, I’m going to be very thankful for this moment. I know this is going to help me understand my body better.’
Clark has only played 13 games this season – averaging 16.5 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 8.8 assists per contest.
The injury will force Clark to miss a re-match with college rival Angel Reese and the Chicago Sky in Indianapolis on Saturday.
