Indiana Fever star guard Caitlin Clark may make a return prior to her being featured in this year's All-Star game in Indiana.
Clark, who has missed the Fever's last five games with a groin injury, is likely to return to action this week against either the Golden State Valkyries on Wednesday or the Atlanta Dream on Friday, per reporting from Indy Star beat reporter Chloe Peterson.
Peterson shared in her report on Clark's injury progression that head coach Stephanie White has been happy with Clark's progress in practice, but that she wants to be cautious with how quickly they ramp her back into action.
“The same structure, I would say, return to play structure as we have been doing. She gets to do a little bit more, and then we see tomorrow: is there progress, or is there any regression? How does she feel? How does she look? What does recovery look like? And so this was really the first time we've been able to get around as live action. So, we'll see what it brings tomorrow," said White according to Peterson.
This would be a huge boost for Indiana as they're looking to end on a high note prior to the All-Star break, which will now feature three Fever players - Clark, Aliyah Boston, and Kelsey Mitchell. The two former players here will be starting, with Mitchell named a reserve recently by coaches around the league.
A huge boost for the Fever in relation to them being able to bring Clark back is them having re-signed Aari McDonald after parting ways with DeWanna Bonner recently. As Peterson notes in her article, McDonald was brought on to take a load off of Clark.
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The two haven't seen any action together. At all. It sounds fake, but it's true - just plug their names into the WNBA's stats site while looking through lineup data, and they've yet to share even one minute on the floor together.
Obviously, this is going to be a fun viewing experience knowing just how hard McDonald plays on defense and how well she plays on ball. Clark can be leaned back into the lineup a bit more easily now with McDonald taking over facilitation duties while they share the court. Imagining Clark able to free herself of a defender thanks to McDonald is an exciting prospect for the Fever's offense.
Golden State is a tough team to return from injury against. They're one of the best defensive teams in the WNBA right now, and they've been carving up pretty elite clubs as of late. While they've struggled to close games out, so have the Fever. It'll be an interesting test for Clark to go up against Veronica Burton, Carla Leite, or Kayla Thornton in the backcourt.