Fever star Caitlin Clark reveals mental, physical challenges of returning from injury

The Indiana Fever nearly made a run all the way to the WNBA Finals last season even while Caitlin Clark was out injured, and now there are high expectations for Caitlin Clark and company coming into this season.

After a spectacular rookie season where she established herself as a future star in the WNBA, Clark struggled with groin injuries among other ailments during her second season. Those things held her back and limited her production before she was eventually shut down for the season.

Now, Clark is back healthy, but she is still getting acclimated to playing big minutes. On Wednesday night before taking on the Los Angeles Sparks, Clark talked about the impact that being out with injury had on her, via ESPN’s Kendra Andrews.

“You just become hyper cautious to certain things,” Clark said. “When my back tightened up I think I almost got confidence from that, because I came back in and I played eight more minutes so, and I felt great the last eight minutes … But it’s going to take me a little bit to, like, really get over this mental hurdle of, like, trusting my body.”

Clark played 31 minutes in Indiana’s season opener, a 107-104 loss to the Dallas Wings in a classic game on Saturday. She didn’t have her best game, finishing with 20 points on 7-of-18 shooting and 2-of-9 from the 3-point line with seven assists, but it makes sense that she would be a bit rusty coming back from injury.

Before the Sparks game, the former Iowa star spoke about the toughest thing about her minutes increase now that the regular season is here.

“So it’s a lot of stress on somebody’s body and just the pace and the physicality of it too,” she said, per Andrews. “But I feel really good.”

Despite her recent shooting struggles, it’s only a matter of time until Clark finds her range from the perimeter. When that happens and the MVP candidate gets her legs back under her, it will be her time to take a leap into true superstardom in the WNBA.

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