Following Tuesday afternoon’s pregame work ahead of Indiana’s (21-19) clash at the Phoenix Mercury (25-14) from PHX Arena, Fever coach Stephanie White spoke on the injury recovery progress of franchise cornerstone point guard Caitlin Clark and the possibility of Clark returning before the regular season concludes.
Though Clark is set to miss her 19th consecutive regular-season contest with a right groin injury, the Fever guard was seen crossing another important milestone. Clark was running with Fever backups in their full-court 5-on-0 on Tuesday morning from PHX Arena.
White said Clark still hasn’t begun any contact work in practices, though.
“No, she’s just been doing mostly shooting and individual stuff,” White said.
With a week left, White was also asked if the Fever anticipate Clark coming back before the end of the regular season.
“I mean, that’s the hope. She’s working as hard as she can to make sure that she is coming back or is capable of coming back. You know, again, I think that the long-term viewpoint of her health and wellness is the most important thing,” White said.
Based off White’s Aug. 26 comments, any Clark return will require the superstar being a more active participant in Fever practices.
“I want to see her in practice, live in practice,” White said on Aug. 26. “Want to see her continue to work to not just build endurance, but to be able to handle contact 94 feet as it’s going to be in-game, and to be able to do that and sustain it from an endurance standpoint, and that’s going to take multiple practices to make sure that there’s no regression. And as most of us know, when we get fatigued, we look different, and see how she plays through fatigue.”
With just three games remaining in Indiana’s 2025 regular-season slate after Tuesday night’s game, Clark could still make a return. Two of the three contests occur within the friendly confines of Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
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This article originally appeared on Hawkeyes Wire: Fever speak on possibility of Caitlin Clark regular-season return
Reporting by Scout Springgate, Hawkeyes Wire / Hawkeyes Wire
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