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Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark announced on social media Thursday afternoon that she will not participate in the WNBA All-Star game on Saturday or in the 3-Point Contest on Friday after she injured her groin on Tuesday in a game against the Connecticut Sun.
Clark said she was “incredibly sad and disappointed” that she wouldn’t play in the game that is slated for Saturday night at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, which is the first time that Indianapolis has hosted the event.
“I have to rest my body,” she wrote in a statement issued by the Indiana Fever. “I will still be at Gainbridge Fieldhouse for all the action and I’m looking forward to helping Sandy [Brondello] coach our team to a win.”
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Sandy Brondello, the coach of the New York Liberty, is one of two coaches participating in the All-Star Game.
Fever coach Stephanie White said previously that Clark had imaging done Wednesday afternoon and deferred to the team’s training staff for more details except to say that she considered it good news.
Clark got hurt with under a minute left in Tuesday’s game. She walked downcourt holding her right groin after assisting on the Fever’s final basket. As teammate Aliyah Boston tried to console her, Clark walked to the basket stanchion and banged her head against it before heading to the bench. During the timeout, she covered her head with a towel and appeared to be holding back tears.
“Someone who continues to have setbacks from an injury standpoint … it’s very frustrating. You feel like you’re trying to do everything that you can to put yourself in position to get past it or to move forward,” White said. “When there’s a setback, it’s mentally and emotionally tough, so of course she was upset.”
Clark had been durable throughout college and her first season in the WNBA, never missing a game. Now she’s had four different muscle injuries so far this year.
She missed the preseason opener with tightness in her quad but played the next day in an exhibition game at her alma mater, Iowa. She suffered a quad strain against New York on May 24 that kept her out for five games. Clark returned June 14 and played in five games before suffering another injury to her left groin that kept her out for four contests and the Commissioner’s Cup final.
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Being the “un-finely” tuned athlete that I am, it would seem that Caitlin needs to add a few pounds onto her frame. To better handle the stress of the pro game. My $ 0.02
I wonder if wearing fashionable dress shoes could cause unusual strains on the feet and legs of someone who has spent much of her life in basketball shoes…
Could we be seeing a rapid psychical/ career ending decline? Starting to look like that.