Several weeks ago, Caitlin Clark was on the sideline, her left quad taped and her fans anxious. One viral video from that stretch captured a mother surprising her daughter with tickets to see Clark face the Aces in Las Vegas. The girl burst into tears, whispering through sobs, “I already have my jersey.” At the time, there was no return timeline for Clark. But something about that video made us believe she’d come back early—and she did. Clark dropped 32 points in her return against the Liberty, handing the champs their first loss of the season. But the story has since taken a sharp turn. After weeks of struggling, Clark went down again—this time with a groin injury. And now, her All-Star status is under real threat.
And it’s not just us asking the tough questions. National analyst Rachel DeMita offered a stark warning on her podcast, Courtside Club. “So all this muscle mass came on really quickly, and I’m sure that it changed the mechanics of her body. But the thing that you have to be careful of is if, say, you try to rush her back from this injury as well, then you’re getting into this territory where a very serious injury can happen.”
DeMita didn’t stop there. She raised concerns about female athletes’ higher risk for knee injuries due to hip-to-knee angles and the dangers of overcompensation. “The last thing you want is her compensating or her groin not firing properly, and she goes to cut to the side, and then all of a sudden something blows in her knee.” Her conclusion was blunt: “If it means that Kaitlyn is out for three weeks, if it means that she is out all the way through All-Star, then so be it. She has such a long career. And her as a player is so important for this team and for this league in general, so you actually can’t risk it.”
The warning couldn’t have come at a more urgent time. Clark has already suffered a quad injury and missed five games this season. The Fever went 2-3 in her absence between May 28 and June 10. On her return, she exploded against the Liberty but soon entered a slump, making just 1 of her last 23 three-point attempts over three games. Then came the groin strain.
It happened with 12 seconds left in a game, the Fever had already secured their win against the Storm. Clark was trying to shake free from a defender when she hit the deck, grimacing. The MRI came back the next day, revealing a left groin issue.
She missed the very next game against the Sparks, and Fever coach Stephanie White announced her availability was “day-to-day.”
“I think it’s very much a day-to-day thing … how she responds to treatment,” White said. “I stay in my lane and let our strength and conditioning do what they do best. But yeah, found out late last night and we’ll treat it day-to-day.”
That uncertainty has put a damper on what should have been Clark’s All-Star campaign. She’s still putting up numbers: 18.2 PPG, 8.9 APG, and 5.6 RPG. But she’s also shooting 39% from the field and just 29.5% from deep. Combine that with back-to-back leg injuries, and the case for caution builds.
There’s a painful irony here. In four years of college basketball, Clark never missed a single game due to injury. But within six weeks of working with a professional strength and conditioning team, as Mick talks hoops pointed out on his X post, she’s sustained two quad injuries and now a groin issue. It’s raised eyebrows and prompted real questions about her body’s adaptation to the WNBA.
She even missed the Fever’s first preseason game with a left leg issue, though the team insists that injury was unrelated to her current ailments. Still, patterns matter.
Through it all, Clark has remained Clark. When she didn’t suit up against the Mystics on May 29, she still signed autographs for 12 straight minutes. No cameras. Just Caitlin. And when that little girl cried tears of joy after her parents gifted her Las Vegas tickets, Clark noticed. She commented simply: “Check your DMs.”
But if the Fever want Clark to be around for years to come—to keep inspiring fans like that little girl—they’ll have to heed DeMita’s warning. Sitting out the All-Star Game might feel like a setback. In reality, it might be the smartest play Indiana makes all season.
Caitlin Clark May Miss All-Star, But ESPY Spotlight Awaits
But till then, if need be, Clark needs to stay on the sidelines—preferably laughing it up with teammates and fellow stars like Kelsey Plum, just like she did during the Fever vs. Sparks game. Plum tried to get her a technical foul from the bench, jokingly teasing her mid-play. It was a rare moment of levity during a frustrating stretch for Indiana’s franchise face. The truth is, Caitlin Clark needs to take it slow now, because while the All-Star spotlight may be slipping away, the ESPYs are already rolling out the red carpet.
Jun 22, 2025; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) during the during the first half of a WNBA basketball game against the Las Vegas Aces at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Lucas Peltier-Imagn Images
Clark, currently nursing a groin strain after just returning from a quad injury, may very well miss the WNBA All-Star Game in her second season. But the ESPN-backed Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly Awards have acknowledged her place in history. She’s not just nominated—she’s up for two of the show’s biggest honors.
In the Best Record-Breaking Performance category, she’s listed alongside Geno Auriemma, Kevin Durant, and Alexander Ovechkin—three generational icons. Her NCAA scoring feat, which shattered Pete Maravich’s all-time record, earned her the nod.
She’s also been nominated for Best WNBA Player, shoulder-to-shoulder with Napheesa Collier, Breanna Stewart, and the indomitable A’ja Wilson. That’s especially notable considering Clark wasn’t included—possibly due to Wilson recently becoming the fastest player to reach 5,000 points in just 237 WNBA games—in the Best Athlete – Women’s Sports category, which features Simone Biles, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, Gabby Thomas, and Wilson herself.
With ESPY voting now largely fan-driven, Clark’s cultural pull could push her to the podium. Whether she’s lacing up or sitting out, her impact is undeniable. And while the Fever weighs the risk of re-injury, Clark’s career—and influence—are only heating up. All-Star or not, the league’s brightest light still has the spotlight.
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