‘Learning to run again’ – Caitlin Clark’s agonizing return

Dec 31, 2025 - 20:00

When it comes to basketball, Caitlin Clark has not had it easy in 2025.

The WNBA star offered some insight into her long and gruelling road to recovery after enduring a 2025 season full of injuries and setbacks, which resulted in her playing just 13 games for the Indiana Fever.

New Heights podcast: Travis and Jason Kelce with Caitlin Clark — Caitlin Clark spared no detail about her injury return when talking to Travis and Jason Kelce

Clark revealed on the New Heights Podcast, hosted by Jason and Travis Kelce, that as a result of her groin and quad issues, she was forced to relearn how to run.

“So, it was just obviously a long and, like, tough year of recurring injuries. And you guys know how that goes,” she began.

“It was a long process to just get back on the court. Because when you have the groins and the quads and whatever you’re dealing with, it’s like you don’t run for a while.

“So, like, it’s weird, like, learning to run again in a way.”

Clark first got injured in May, which forced her to sit out of the Fever’s preseason game before suffering an injury to her left quad four games into the new season, that ruled her out for a further five games.

She returned on June 14 but it wasn’t long before a groin injury ruled her out of action.

There was time for more return having got back onto the court on July 9, but a week later she suffered an injury in the last minute of the game against the Phoenix Suns and that would be the last game of her sophomore season.

After a spectacular rookie year, Clark would not play a single game more in 2025, and would still suffer setbacks along the way.

As in August, during rehab for her groin injury, she suffered mild bone bruising.

It was not until September that the Indiana Fever publicly announced that they were shutting down her season, citing that due to her persistent groin issue and the short time remaining in the season, it was not worth aggravating the issue further.

Caitlin Clark looks on before the game against the Seattle Storm at Climate Pledge Arena on August 03, 2025 in Seattle, Washington. — Clark has had to endure a difficult 2025 season, which followed her historic rookie campaign

Caitlin Clark #17 looks on during the United States Women's Basketball Team training camp at Duke University — Clark was in the most Team USA camp, her first time linking up with her compatriots

Clark returns from injury, joins Team USA camp

It wasn’t all doom and gloom in 2025 for Clark, as while speaking to the Kelce brothers, she revealed her delight at being called into the Team USA camp in early December.

“I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way than to get thrown back out there with the best players in the world,” Clark said of the three-day training camp at Duke University in Durham, N.C.

This was the first time she had made it into the senior camp and marked her return to full basketball activities in a competitive environment.

Clark revealed that one of her major goals is to be on the Olympic team for Los Angeles in 2028, as well as the next major international competition – the FIBA Women’s World Cup in Germany in September 2026.

“Hopefully I’m on the team for (the World Cup),” Clark said as the US prepare to add to the 11 World Cup titles they have won, including each of the last four, and six of the last seven.

“My goal is to be on the Olympic team in 2028. It feels like it’s far away, but it’s probably way closer than it sounds.”

Clark will first hope to be in Germany for the World Cup next summer, which should pave the way for her inclusion on the roster in the 2028 Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles.

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