The Indiana Fever have been without Caitlin Clark and Sophie Cunningham for a while now. Head coach Stephanie White was also absent from Saturday’s game against the Chicago Sky for a heartbreaking reason.
Clark suffered a quad injury and has not played since May 24. The 23-year-old superstar recently revealed when the injury may have occurred, but admitted she wasn’t aware of the exact play. Meanwhile, Cunningham has missed Indiana’s last two games with a right ankle sprain.
With the Fever at 4-4 entering the week, White provided some updates Monday on when the two stars might return.
Stephanie White Provides Injury Updates on Caitlin Clark and Sophie Cunningham
Unfortunately for Indiana fans, White said that Clark will miss Tuesday’s road game against the 5-3 Atlanta Dream. She added that Clark has not been cleared to begin basketball activities yet, but is making progress in her recovery.
Caitlin Clark will not play tomorrow, Steph White says.
She’s not necessarily cleared for basketball activities, but ready to start “ramping back up.”
Sophie Cunningham was also limited in practice today.
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“We’re ready to start ramping back up and make sure,” White said. “It’s completely different when you’re just doing one-on-one workouts than when you’re out there in five-on-five, getting up and down the floor, moving laterally. So she’s been allowed to do some practicing, not everything.”
Given that, Clark’s return does not seem to be imminent. The Fever are being cautious with their young star and not trying to rush her back, especially so early in the season.
Clark will need to resume full basketball activities before she’s able to return. It’s unclear when that will be, but it may happen soon based on White’s update.
Indiana is also being careful with Cunningham, who doesn’t sound 100% and may remain out on Tuesday as well.
“She was a little limited today, and it’s seeing how they do in certain drills and certain actions, getting them back into game condition again,” White said of the 28-year-old guard. “This is an injury that she’s aggravated a few times now this season, so making sure we’re playing the long game and doing it the right way.”
If Cunningham sits again on Tuesday, her next chance to play will be on Saturday at home against the defending champion New York Liberty. Perhaps Clark will be ready to come back by then as well.
It’s good that the Fever are erring on the side of caution with both players. They need their backcourt duo to get healthy if they want to make the playoffs and potentially win the WNBA championship this fall.