Caitlin Clark exited the final minute of the Indiana Fever’s victory over the Connecticut Sun on Tuesday night after appearing to tweak her groin.
Short of it affecting the playoffs, it’s hard to imagine the injury to the WNBA’s biggest star happening at a worse time.
On Wednesday night, the Fever will face the defending champion New York Liberty in a nationally televised matchup — is there any other kind of Fever game? — in a masterstroke of scheduling on an otherwise quiet day on the sports calendar (sorry, ESPYS). But even before the Fever made their way from Uncasville to Brooklyn, the basketball world had already begun to descend upon Indianapolis, which is hosting this weekend’s WNBA All-Star Game.
At this point, it’s far too early to say whether Clark’s injury will affect her availability for the event. Speaking to reporters after Tuesday night’s game, Fever head coach Stephanie White confirmed that her star second-year player had suffered a groin injury and said that the team was still evaluating its severity.
“I think we just take it one step at a time,” White said of Clark’s injury, according to ESPN. “We’ll get some food and get on the plane and start talking about New York. She’s being evaluated; we’ll see where we are with that. And certainly, we’ll have another evaluation, probably, and conversation in the morning, see where we are. But this group has played without her. At least we’ve got experience in that.”
That may be the case, but it was hard to look at a visibly emotional Clark sitting on the bench with a towel over her head following the injury and not consider the potential ramifications for this weekend’s All-Star festivities. Not only is she set to captain one of the two teams in Saturday’s signature event, but she had also recently announced her intention to participate in Friday night’s 3-point contest, bringing an additional spotlight to the star-studded field.
Although All-Star Weekend is a celebration of the league as a whole, its presence in Indianapolis means that Clark — fair or not — will be viewed as the event’s de facto host. And while her presence will surely be felt either way, the possibility of her no longer being a participant possesses the potential to cast a cloud over the Circle City heading into this weekend’s festivities.
About Ben Axelrod
Ben Axelrod is a veteran of the sports media landscape, having most recently worked for NBC's Cleveland affiliate, WKYC. Prior to his time in Cleveland, he covered Ohio State football and the Big Ten for outlets including Cox Media Group, Bleacher Report, Scout and Rivals.