The thing Fever fans were the most scared of coming into this season has happened. Caitlin Clark is out with a long-term injury and it is that same damn left leg. The news comes as a gut punch, especially in the aftermath of a heartbreaking and controversial 90–88 loss to the New York Liberty. For a fanbase already on edge, the combination of a disputed finish and their franchise star’s uncertain timeline has cast a heavy shadow over this season. 

Clark was back with her signature logo threes and perfect passes, recording another double-double, but it was not enough as the Liberty edged past to provide them with their second loss of the season. Clark herself had a chance to win it in the final seconds but Natasha Cloud was vigilant and stole the ball off her. 

Now it has gone from bad to worse for Fever, as Clark is out for at least three weeks, according to the latest update. She has suffered a left quadriceps strain and the timeline could even be moved further upon reevaluation. Since it’s a 2-week estimated recovery time, it could be a grade 1 strain. Its normal recovery time is two weeks but teams generally push it to ensure that it doesn’t worsen further. And they will be extra careful considering she already had a niggle in preseason and her full-intensity games may have caused this injury. She has played 35 minutes per game this season, including a very physically demanding game against the New York Liberty, where she went up against one of the best defenses in the league. 

A grade 1 quadriceps strain, as confirmed by the Fever’s X, means minor muscle damage, usually healing in 2-3 weeks, per the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. The Fever are playing it safe, learning from cases like Breanna Stewart’s 2019 Achilles injury, where rushing back caused setbacks. Clark’s heavy workload, against tough defenders like Cloud might’ve taken a toll.

For the first time in her illustrious collegiate and professional career, Caitlin Clark will miss an official game. She played and started in all 139 games during her four years at Iowa, followed by the first 46 games of her WNBA career with the Indiana Fever. Over the span of five years, Clark’s durability and consistency became a defining trait of her legacy. That remarkable streak totaling 185 games will now come to an end.

Clark did miss their opening preseason game against the Washington Mystics and was labeled as having a left leg injury, which is not very specific. She herself admitted to feeling “tightness” in her lower body. Clark was limited in practice but was back for their next game against Brazil, playing through her injury. 

She didn’t know how the injury occurred and was pretty casual about it. “Probably just a little too much basketball,” she had said. At the outset it seems that the same injury has worsened, leading to a long layoff but according to national reporter Scott Agnes, it is not the same injury, just the same leg. 

“While it is not the same injury, it is to the same left leg,” he wrote on twitter. Since we didn’t have the specifics on the initial injury, we can’t be sure this is the same one. We will get more information from coach Stephanie White later.  This will derail many of the plans White had for these coming games, as the backup point guard situation was already concerning to begin with. 

How will the Indiana Fever approach the two weeks without Caitlin Clark?

Clark is not just any player. She is the engine of this Fever side. Clark has averaged 19.0 points,9.3 assists and 6 rebounds this season. Her output is definitely the one thing they will miss, as well as her leadership. Their backup option as of now is either to play Sydney Colson or Sophie Cunningham at point guard. 

Since White experimented with Cunningham at point against the Mystics in the preseason, and she responded well. She should take that guard spot and rotate with Colson as the game progresses. She will certainly not bring the same level of creativity or scoring as Clark but she is the same kind of player and that suits the kind of basketball that White wants to play. Colson has not played a significant amount of minutes so far this season as opposed to Cunningham. The position might be something she needs to get used to but she did play a hybrid role back in college, so you never know, she might actually be better at point. 

A two-week timeline means Clark will miss at least four games: vs. Connecticut on May 30, against Sonia Citron’s Washington on June 3, and the rematch against Angel Reese’s Chicago Sky on June 7.  The Sun game is one they should win, as they are not in good form, losing all of their 4 games so far.  

The Washington game will be tricky, as the rookie duo of Citron and Kiki Iriafen are proving to be a problem along with the experience of Brittney Sykes. Clark will be pushing to come back against Angel Reese but the management will take absolutely no risks so it’s improbable that she comes back early. 

The one thing they should not do is panic. It could happen, one change in the starting lineup leading to a domino effect across the squad. The rest of the squad is more than capable of holding their own on the court and should retain their confidence. History shows that overreacting via radical lineup changes or abandoning system identity often compounds the problem. The Fever’s best path forward is to stay the course, empower role players, and reinforce trust in their process.