Caitlin Clark entered 2025 with one clear goal of winning a WNBA title. After a record-breaking rookie season that carried Indiana to the playoffs, the dream felt realistic. Instead, her year unraveled early due to recurring soft tissue injuries, with a bone bruise sealing her shutdown. Even so, Clark still found success in a limited 13-game campaign.

In 13 games, Clark put up 16.5 points, 5 rebounds, and 8.8 assists while being selected for her second all-star team with the most fan votes in WNBA history. However, she was mired in a dreadful shooting slump. Her shooting splits were down across the board, going 36.7% from the field, including 27.9% from 3-point range. Despite a subdued statistical season on the court, there were multiple positives as well.

Caitlin Clark was named in Forbes Most Powerful Women in sports list

In October, Forbes magazine unveiled its 2025 “America’s Most Powerful Women in Sports” list, and former Iowa women’s basketball star Caitlin Clark was one of the 25 owners, executives, and athletes to star on the list. 

Forbes identified the Most Powerful Women in Sports by evaluating candidates in five criteria: owners/investors, business executives, front-office leaders, athletes, and amplifiers (media personalities and influencers). They assessed candidates using “proprietary team valuations, company and sport revenue figures, media mentions, and social media follower and engagement data.” 

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Clark was ranked fourth on the list, the highest-rated athlete on a list that includes the likes of serial winner Serena Williams, Simone Biles, and Breanna Stewart. The 23-year-old Iowa alum was also the second-youngest after 21-year-old tennis player Coco Gauff. While being powerful, Forbes also ranked Clark as the richest WNBA star.  

Caitlin Clark was the highest-paid WNBA player 

Clark ranked at No.11 on Forbes list of highest-paid women athletes with an estimated net worth of $12.1 million. Only $0.1 million of that has come from her WNBA paycheck, with the bulk of her earnings credited to her off-court success. She will likely jump up the list next year with the new CBA set to bump up salaries by a huge margin. 

Caitlin Clark returns to the Team USA circuit

Clark missed out on the Olympics last year, which was a punch in the gut. Many felt she was deserving of a place but was omitted. Despite playing little basketball, Clark returned to the scheme of things about USA basketball. She was called up in the 18-player camp held at Duke University earlier in December, where she impressed immediately.

“She’s a terrific player, really locked in and focused,” coach Kara Lawson said of Clark. “I thought she looked good on both ends. And I thought that she hadn’t missed the beat.” Her signature three seemed to be back as she was wiping off the rust from rarely playing. Clark displayed her fitness after going through an intense regimen in the offseason. 

Caitlin Clark’s injury had silver linings

Before this season, Caitlin Clark had never missed a game in a streak stretching back to high school. She had never experienced what it is like. While that shows her resilience and tenacity, it also affects Clark when she inevitably gets into such situations. Her lack of experience with such injuries was among the reasons for her repeated relapse. 

“I put together a pretty incredible stretch of never missing a game,” Clark said. “The fact is, when you’re a professional athlete, it’s going to come at some point. That’s just how it goes. I think it’s honestly taught me more than I’ve probably ever learned through the course of my career of how to take care of your body, how to get right, how to stay healthy, and then just taking time for yourself.”

Now, Clark knows how her body reacts to certain injuries and will be able to understand and react better in the future. She also gained important lessons while sitting on the sidelines and understanding the game from a third-person perspective. An athlete can understand the game and look at it through a unique lens, away from the court. Athletes like Clark rarely get such an opportunity. 

“This has been incredibly frustrating, but even in the bad, there is good. The way the fans continued to show up for me, and for the Fever, brought me so much joy and an important perspective. I am so proud of how this team has only gotten stronger through adversity this year,” Clark wrote in her announcement. 

These learnings will be useful in making her a better player in the longterm. They will guide her while coming back next season. From another perspective, it’s a positive thing that Clark experienced a season like this at a young age of 23. With age, it becomes difficult to recover from any injury.

For an inexperienced victim like Clark, it could have been worse. 2026 is exciting for Caitlin Clark. She is looking to come back in the same or possibly better way than her 2024 rookie season. Her earnings and brand value are expected to further go up while her on-court return is most awaited.