Injury bug. If the 2025 WNBA season started with physicality as its theme, it has quickly turned into injuries. Already, names like Napheesa Collier, Breanna Stewart, Arike Ogunbowale, and Angel Reese are out for their respective teams. For the Indiana Fever, it started just four games in when Caitlin Clark strained her left quad. Although she returned, the point guard was again sidelined for a left groin injury, followed by a right groin injury. For a player who has never missed a game since her sophomore season at high school, she has already missed 20 this season and still stands at a no-return timeline status.

HC Stephanie White gave a little hope, updating that Clark has returned to full-court body weight running. But she also indirectly asked everyone to hold their horses with a ‘no return to practice’ comment. For the Fever, Sydney Colson and Aari McDonald, too, are out for the season with a left ACL tear and a broken right foot, respectively. The center of the discussion, though, is not the physicality, but the league’s scheduling. Reporter Ros Gold-Onwude believes that’s the very reason why White should continue to hold off Clark’s return.

On the latest episode of the Good Follow podcast, reporter Gold-Onwude argued, “What about all the injuries racking up for everybody? The schedule, the lack of time for rest, for practice, you know? So, like, you’re going to reintroduce Caitlin into that? Hopefully a 100%? I don’t know. It doesn’t seem like it’s good for any of the players in the league right now.

“Plus, think again. They’re down all of their point guards, really. So, the lack of depth at the point guard position is really important because she needs to rest when she does come back. You brought Odyssey Sims in, but it’s not only that she rests that you could sub her out to sit on the court. There’s rest within the game. Obviously, coach Stephanie White has been moving her off the ball, which is a different type of intensity on her body and style of play. So, I don’t know, adversity and injuries are starting to pile up.”

Clark’s return not only answers to the pressure that the fans’ expectations bring but also aids the team. The point guard can help the team with her shooting prowess, passes, and speed. Not to mention, she spaces out the defense with at least one to two faces always guarding her, opening up other teammates. So far, Indiana has been able to manage a rather successful record without Clark. However, the schedule has been in their favor.

As we move closer to the postseason, the Indiana Fever has the ninth-hardest schedule of the 13 teams. Their biggest threats now would be the title contenders in the Minnesota Lynx. The Seattle Storm and the Phoenix Mercury are also equally threatening to their run to the playoffs. With Clark on the floor, the team not only gains a certain leadership aspect among all the strengths that the point guard brings, but her presence is also crucial, especially as the regular season nears its end.

The Fever guard was sidelined mid-July owing to a right groin injury. The deteriorating condition during the final moments of the Connecticut Sun game has had a long-lasting impact on the athlete. Despite working closely with the medical team, Clark is on a slow roll as far as returning is concerned.

The back-to-back scheduling doesn’t help with proper rest either. So, reintegrating the star player back to the same routine would not be favorable for the team or the player. With barely a few games to go till September 14, when the postseason begins, Clark should sit out instead and get adequate rest. However, we know Clark will return before the season ends.

But as fans wait in anticipation to see their favorite star, can Clark return before the team hits it off in the playoffs? For once, ESPN and the WNBA both almost gave the fans wrong hope.

Caitlin Clark’s injury return predictions gone wrong

When ESPN first speculated that Caitlin Clark would return on August 12, neither the Indiana Fever coaches nor the management backed it up. But the website did not budge until recently. However, following the pattern, the WNBA’s league app also hopped in ahead of the Fever-Wings game.

In fact, national reporter Robert Lundberg pointed out the errors in his recent podcast just hours before the game. “No one really expected Clark to play against the Wings. But there was that update on the WNBA app that confused people a little bit. You can see it here. It has Caitlin Clark listed as a game time decision,” he stated.

Surprisingly, the app had listed Clark on a game-time-decision (GTD) instead of Out. This was despite head coach Stephanie White’s clear statement on Clark’s progress and inability to perform during the practice sessions. The reporter also hinted at ESPN’s misleading deadline being the probable cause of the error.

“If I had to guess, you know, that ESPN estimate of August 12 as her return and the fact that there had been no official status updates from the team since, put it up in the air,” he stated. And boy is he right! These timelines confused fans to a great degree, especially a few hours before the tipoff. Add Paige Bueckers’ questionable status to the mix, and it was a sure-shot recipe to make fans go into a frenzy.

With a one-point deficit loss against the last standing team in the Western Conference division, can the Indiana Fever rebound or keep drowning without Caitlin Clark? With the season nearing the playoffs, the locker room can no longer afford a close win against young teams under its belt.