Caitlin Clark's eventual return to the Indiana Fever is starting to feel a lot like that Will Smith meme where he's looking around at the empty house in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. The Fever megastar has missed over a month of action and has played just 13 games this season, and even when / if she does take the court again in 2025... it will be alongside a skeleton crew of the Fever, who just lost another key player to injury; this time, it's Sophie Cunningham, who will miss the remainder of the season with a knee injury, according to the team.
Cunningham is the third player to sustain a season-ending injury for the Fever within the past few days. First, it was Sydney Colson and Aari McDonald who were lost for the year, and now Cunningham will join them on the sideline. McDonald was one of the best stories of the W season, playing the best basketball of her career as the Fever's de facto point guard.
All hope isn't lost for the Fever, though. Clark, plus Aliyah Boston and Kelsey Mitchell, is still a trio good enough to make some noise in the WNBA Playoffs. Plus, Odyssey Sims looks like a nice fit and Natasha Howard is on a nice scoring spree right now. But with how shorthanded the Fever will be upon Clark's return, are we sure it's worth even bringing back Clark this year when it would take a herculean effort to make a playoff run?
Multiple injuries to Fever role players complicates Caitlin Clark's return
I don't think a team should ever completely waive the white flag on a season. However... competing with the Minnesota Lynx and New York Liberty was going to be a tall task for a fully healthy Fever team. Without Cunningham, McDonald and Colson, a team that already had some depth questions is now down to barely enough proven players to form a starting lineup.
Again, if Clark is healthy and in game shape, I see no problem bringing her back. But if that groin injury is lingering even 0.1%, it's just not worth risking further injury in a year where, in Minnesota, one of the most dominant teams in league history seems to be barrelling toward a WNBA championship.
The Fever expected to roll out Clark, Mitchell, Boston, Cunningham and DeWanna Bonner as its starting five this year. Well, Cunningham is now lost to injury, Bonner didn't last long in Indiana at all, and Clark has missed most of the year with a groin injury that's obviously pretty serious. That all sucks.
But the team's trio, in theory, should be one of the WNBA's best cores for years and years to come. The Fever can't get tunnel vision here.