A year before taking a pregnancy sabbatical in 2007 for her daughter Lauren, Lisa Leslie could feel something wasn’t right. Back then, in 2006, she saw her second-lowest time on the floor (30.7 minutes). Although her scores remained high, she was relying more on three-pointers than fighting to get into the paint for layups. Turned out, it was a groin injury she had that would be a kink in every shot she attempted. Fast forward to now, and she still feels it linger. Now, she is looking at another star going through the same.

After sweeping the ROTY in 2024, Caitlin Clark was in line to be an MVP candidate this year. The Indiana Fever were early title contenders with a veteran-heavy roster. However, all those dreams soon shattered. After the fourth game, their floor general was sidelines with a left quad strain. Although the Fever fans saw her after five games, she went down again with a left groin injury. A right groin injury followed soon. Now, she has missed 21 games with no return timeline. The Indiana Fever’s offense, no doubt, needs a shooter like Clark for a deep playoff run. But Leslie has some grim news for the Indy fans.

Leslie, a two-time WNBA champion, shared her personal experience of dealing with a groin strain when she sat down on CBS Sports’ We Need To Talk on July 16. “I really feel for Caitlin Clark because I actually had that injury. 2006. And listen, I was heavily taped around my thigh, around my glute. Just trying to make sure there was enough pressure to hold that groin. And the hard part is that the groin is an area that you can’t just touch and go, ‘Oh, it hurts right here.’ You feel it deep, you have to get a lot of deep treatment, whether it’s ice, and heat, and rest.

“Well, Caitlin Clark, she can’t find a lot of rest right now because she’s midseason. I think that injury is really tough because it lingers. No matter how much medicine you take, you can feel fine. You can get back out there. But one move, one change of direction, and boom! You’re right back to feeling the same kind of pain. So this is gonna be a tough injury that she’s gonna have to manage.”

When co-host, Tracy Wolfson asked, “How long did it take you to recover from?,” Leslie only added another layer of nightmare for the Fever. She replied, “To be honest, Tracy, I play tennis and I can still feel that injury linger because I don’t know that it ever really goes away. You just learn how to manage and play with it. Which could also lead to why her numbers are down. Listen, the logo shoots the longest distance out there in the WNBA consistently and that’s gonna take away from her lift, whether she’s shooting 3-pt range or even further out. I remember struggling all season long in 2006 with that injury,” Leslie confirmed that the injury could affect Clark.

Although Leslie tweaked her groin back in 2006, she posted her career-best numbers and won MVP honors. Then, despite the second-lowest minutes on the floor till then, she managed 20 points on 51% from the field and 40% from beyond the arc. Even her numbers on the board remained consistent at 9.5 rebounds per game, two higher than her previous season. Now, the Fever could only hope that it is the exact case with Caitlin Clark, despite it being seemingly much worse-timed than Leslie’s.

This prediction also puts the Indiana Fever in a horrible place that has recently lost Aari McDonald and Sydney Colson to season-ending broken right foot and ACL tear in the left leg, respectively. To rebuild the backcourt, Amber Cox and Kelly Krauskopf signed Odyssey Sims and Kyra Lambert to 7-day hardship contracts. They could be eligible for more hardship contracts if Clark didn’t return by the time Sims or Lambert leave.

However, the latest guard that the Fever signed could be an injury waiting to happen with her previous injury-laden history. Still, Kyra Lambert has revealed her intentions after being signed.

Caitlin Clark’s Newest Teammate Puts Lingering Injury Concerns to Rest

The last thing Indiana needs right now is another injury. But with a roster missing 3 pieces, the Fever are scrambling to fill out their backcourt rotation and are taking huge gambles with every signing. Their most recent wager was on the overseas professional Kyra Lambert.

Even though the five-foot-nine guard has a record of winning at every single level she’s played at, there are also a bunch of red flags that one can’t ignore. Firstly, this is her first stint in the WNBA. Yes, leagues in Europe are tough to play in and are quite physical, but the competition level is so much higher in the WNBA.

Secondly, Lambert has a history of injury in college. The Duke alum tore her ACL in 2017 and then tore it again the next year. Normally, this isn’t scary. But for Indiana, which has almost lost its entire point guard position because of injury, warning bells start to ring.

Luckily, Kyra Lambert made it clear that she put in the work after her injury. In her first official practice with the squad, reporter Tony East asked her if coming back and playing in the W seemed too far-fetched. Lambert had a brilliant response. “No, it never seemed far-fetched. I mean, I just did the work. I trusted the process. Again, staying faithful and trusting that God’s timing is perfect, and here we are.”

It looks like Indiana’s newest signing has the heart and the will to thrive in the W. While we haven’t seen her step foot on the hardwood yet, Fever fans are quite excited to see what the future has in store for them. It will be interesting to see if Indiana can still make it work! Stay tuned for more updates.