Perhaps the biggest story in all of women’s basketball over the past several months was whether Indiana Fever superstar Caitlin Clark was going to return to the court after suffering one injury in July and then another in August.
The first injury came in the final minute of the Fever’s July 15 game against the Connecticut Sun, when she did something to her groin. It was clear that this ailment was going to keep Clark sidelined for at least a couple of weeks, but most had little doubt that she would ultimately return for the final few weeks of Indiana’s regular season.
Fast forward to the end of August, and Clark still wasn’t close to returning. At around this time, it came out that Clark also suffered an ankle injury on August 7, which halted her rehab and thus delayed her return. As the days passed without any update on when No. 22 might be back playing for the Fever, fans became increasingly pessimistic that they wouldn’t see her for the rest of this season.
And that sentiment proved true, as Clark announced via social media on September 4 that her 2025 season was over after having just played in 13 games.
Fever Insider Sends Message About Caitlin Clark Injury Recovery
Despite this, some fans seem to still believe that, given Indiana’s having advanced to the WNBA Semifinals, No. 22 could make a miraculous return to the court.
But Fever insider Scott Agness set the record straight in this regard — while also providing his own assessment on where Clark’s progress is at — during his September 25 appearance on Rachel DeMita’s Courtside Club podcast.
“She’s not returning. Listen: She is not returning, period,” Agness said. He later went on to say, “The reality is she’s not in a position to play.”
Agness referenced a video he posted of Clark practicing before the Fever’s Game 3 matchup against the Atlanta Dream last week, which is what sparked some fans to think that she could return in the playoffs if they advanced.
When speaking about this video, he said, “I thought I saw [in Atlanta], and then again in the video, she was still favoring that left ankle. She was not running completely smooth. Now, given it’s early in the morning, that was like the first 10 minutes of shootaround. [She] shot it well, but she has been able to shoot throughout all of this over the last several months.”
Regardless of what it means for if she can play right now, fans aren’t going to like hearing that Clark’s ankle still may be bothering her on the court, even if it’s just Agness’ assessment.
The bottom line is that Clark still has plenty of time to fully heal before the 2026 season. But her ankle potentially not being fully healed yet isn’t ideal.
