On Monday, the Indiana Fever announced that Caitlin Clark will be out for at least two weeks with a left quadriceps strain. The team has said that this is not the same injury that kept Clark out of one of the Fever’s preseason games just weeks ago.
Yet, this does mean that the Fever will be without their best player for an extended stretch for the first time since they drafted her No. 1 overall in the 2024 WNBA Draft.
When it comes to the team’s chances in this stretch, there is nothing to sound the alarm about. Their next four games are against Washington (x2), Connecticut and Chicago — all extremely winnable games even without Clark. If Clark ends up being out longer than the two-week timeline, their next games are against the Atlanta Dream and New York Liberty — a little more intimidating without her. Still, they should come out of this stretch without Clark with a winning record.
The other interesting factor to Clark missing a chunk of time as the season begins to ramp up is the MVP race. While she did have the best MVP odds going into the season, I would say that was more about getting people to spend money than it was about her actual chances.
That being said, she came into the season in the top three when it came to MVP prospects as Clark, Napheesa Collier and A’ja Wilson all seem to be formidable candidates.
While Wilson’s season has not started in the most ideal way for both her and her Aces, Collier has been impressing. She is averaging 29.5 points per game in 35 minutes per game through four wins for the Lynx, shooting 56.2% from the field, 53.8% from three, and 93.5% from the free throw line.
A 50/50/90 season from Collier would be god-tier, and she’s just continuing the momentum she had from last season’s Finals series and the Unrivaled season.
It’s early, and those numbers will inevitably come down a bit as the season goes on. Specifically for Collier, she won’t need to score as much once the team welcomes back Kayla McBride this week. Still, her efficiency has been fantastic to start the season.
In Clark’s four games, she is averaging 19 points in 34.9 minutes per game. She is shooting 40.3% from the field, 31.4% from three and 75% from the free throw line. These lower numbers make sense given that Clark is a high-volume shooter; she’s still making 2.8 three-point shots per game, just under her 3.1 per game from her rookie season. Her stats are pretty on par from last season so far.
Now, Clark will miss two weeks with the quad strain and then need time to ramp back up before re-entering the Fever lineup. That’s not even accounting for possible re-adjustment time after not playing for a few weeks in the season. Clark is a great player and may not go through that adjustment period, but we just don’t know.
In her professional and college careers, she’s never missed a single regular season game, much less a weeks-long stretch. The last time she sat out a game due to injury was in high school. It will be as new to fans watching as it will be for her to experience.
Clark having to take time off now and Collier continuing to dominate and win with the Lynx may shift the MVP conversation. Still, it’s extremely early in the season to be making sweeping statements about an award that won’t be decided until September.
There is plenty of time for Clark to come back after some rest and rocket to the top of the conversation. There is also time for Wilson to get back to how she played last season and completely edge both Collier and Clark out of the conversation. Collier could also hold strong with the numbers she is putting up now.
It’s a long 44-game season, so there is no use making a definitive choice for MVP now.
In the same vein, injuries are a pretty inevitable part of sport, especially when you are depended on as much as Clark is in Indiana. She missing a few weeks to make sure her quad heals up right is not going to destroy her team, her franchise, or the entire league. It’s a quad strain; both she and the WNBA will be fine.
Additionally, putting that kind of pressure on her is not going to help her relax enough to be able to focus on healing. It’s a 44-game season, players are going to get banged up along the way. Last season, the eventual MVP Wilson played 38 of 40 regular-season games, and Collier only played 34 of 40 games while still being the clear runner-up for the award. Even if Clark misses 4-6 games in this stretch, it’s a small number in comparison to the ones she will play. The fate of the entire sport of women’s basketball doesn’t hang in the balance of Clark’s quadricep.
Given she was spotted on the sidelines at Fever practice Tuesday morning, clutching a basketball, she is likely already itching to get back on the court. Hopefully, she heals up well and can rejoin her team soon.
In the meantime, the league will move forward and the likes of Collier, Wilson or even others could grab an early lead in the race for MVP this season.
