The worst thing that could happen did happen. While already recovering from a half dozen soft tissue injuries, Caitlin Clark had another setback. However, it was not related to her right groin, which she has been nursing since July 15. It was with her right ankle. According to reports, she suffered a bone bruise while doing an individual workout in Phoenix on August 7. When Sydney Colson and Aari McDonald were suffering season-ending injuries, Clark was already struggling with a new injury of her own.

The new injury is considered very light, which will not affect her groin rehab and her return timeline. “There was no timeline or projected return to play, so it’s impossible to say if it was impacted,” a Fever spokesperson said. Hard truth: the body’s a labyrinth, not a machine, so we can’t swear it wasn’t, even if we hope it wasn’t. In any case, this added injury will certainly make things difficult for the Fever staff in planning her return. The sadder part is that this could have been avoided if she had ended her workout a couple of minutes earlier. 

Fever reporter Scott Agnes highlighted the unfortunate timing of this setback on his YouTube channel. He said, “So it happened…..couple sources telling me worst thing about it happened at the very end of a workout session. Just awful luck, right? You feel good. She’s looking good, and then one bad step on a defensive series, and boom, frustration because I mean, just awful timing.”

It has just been that way for the Indiana Fever and Caitlin Clark. That Phoenix loss will remain more than just a red L in their column, but the day they lost three of their point guards to injuries. Clark herself is pretty casual when it comes to groin injuries. “You’re not a true basketball player if you haven’t sprained your ankles a bunch.” She said last year, after having multiple injury scares with her ankles. 

The current situation is very different than last year as she is already nursing a right groin injury, which was also a matter of bad luck. She went for a bounce pass to a cutting Kelsey Mitchell with just 39.1 seconds left in the game against the Connecticut Sun, which was already won. Many feel she shouldn’t have been present on the court this late in the game, but the fact is, no one can predict sensitive injuries like these. While Clark wants to desperately return to help the Fever through this difficult patch, it’s all about whether her body allows her to. 

Dealt a Bad Hand, the Fever Are Playing to Win Without Caitlin Clark

Many feel Indiana Fever’s playoff hopes hinge on Caitlin Clark returning from the injury and carrying them on her back. From the current situation, it would seem that’s the only way this side can make it there. Their reliable wing, Sophie Cunningham, is out with her MCL tear. Both of their point guards in Odyssey Sims and Shey Peddy are new. Even with Sims’ 19-point explosion against the Sun, we will have to wait and see how she fares against the best teams of the league.  However, White and Co. are not dwelling on their circumstances and banking on their teamwork to get them through. 

White told the media, “Yes, we’ve been dealt a cr—y hand, but we got to play it. You got to play it anyway. And you know, I’m so proud of this group, and I know at this point it sounds cliché, but they have been so resilient. They have been so connected. They have stayed together. They have found a way.”

The team is not depending on Clark to bail them out of this situation. They are pressing on the gas for the tail end of the season and possibly the playoffs. The Fever showed incredible resilience to come back from a 21-point deficit against the Sun, but the squad will be tested further with back-to-back games against league leaders Minnesota Lynx.  Despite their star point guard being out, she is still making a difference to this squad. 

Kelsey Mitchell said, “I think internally we’ve built relationships with one another to make them, you know, make it not feel so horrible. The energy internally from Caitlin it’s still there. Like it hasn’t wavered. And I think that even though they’re not on the floor, we still feel everyone’s presence.”

Coach Caitlin Clark has been active from the sidelines, hyping the teammates, complaining to the referees. She will continue with that energy from the bench as the Fever tries and pull through in these last few games. To make matters a little easier, White and Co. had a longer-than-average break to ease their new emergency signing in to their team, making things a little easier to prepare for this final push. They will have to make do with whatever tools they have to maximize the playoff chances. With the Storm and Sparks just a game away, this isn’t a stretch run, it’s a street fight.