Health and availability were a big part of Caitlin Clark's success at Iowa, helping her break numerous records, including the all-time NCAA scoring record for both men and women. That health largely carried over to her first WNBA season, but things went completely off the rails in 2025 and continued into 2026.
The Indiana Fever entered the 2025 season with championship aspirations but were forced to muddle through the regular season without Clark for more than five games in a row at any point. In 2026, she missed four of the Fever's 27 games before the All-Star Break and faced a minute restriction in many other, playing less than 20 minutes 11 times.
Here's a full history of her injuries and availability from her time at Iowa through her three seasons in the WNBA.
Caitlin Clark at Iowa
Clark shouldered an enormous load for the Hawkeyes. In four years, she didn't miss a single game — playing in 139 games, all starts, and averaging 34.8 minutes per game. She has two of the top-50 seasons in women's college basketball history in terms of total minutes played.
2024 WNBA season
Clark's remarkable injury luck continued into her rookie campaign. She appeared in all 40 games for the Fever, as well as both of their playoff games. Clark finished the year tied for the league-lead in games played and second in minutes played, just 49 minutes behind Arike Ogunbowale.
2025 WNBA season
Injuries finally reared their ugly head for Clark, and she missed the Fever's first preseason game with lower leg tightness. She was ready for the regular season but made it just four games before a left quad strain knocked her out of the lineup for five contests, including Indiana's first three Commissioners Cup games.
Her return resulted in a win over the New York Liberty, the first loss of the season for the defending champs. The Fever went 3-2 over their next five games with Clark back in the lineup before a groin injury put her out again for four games. She was back in the lineup for four more games before suffering another groin injury against the Connecticut Sun with one just one game left on the schedule before All-Star Weekend.
She missed the last game before the All-Star Break, against the Liberty, and was forced to both the WNBA All-Star Game and 3-Point Contest. This was a huge blow as All-Star weekend was in Indianapolis for the first time ever, and as the Indy ambassador was supposed to be a major presence throughout.
Clark also missed the Fever's first two games coming out of the break. On Thursday, July 24, the Fever announced, that evaluation showed "no further injuries or damage" to her groin. They did not give a timeline for her return and said she would continue her recovery, presumably working on regaining conditioning. On Sept. 4, it was announced that Clark would miss the rest of the regular season.
She ended up missed 31 games during the 2025 regular season. Her shooting percentages are also way down from her rookie season, and it's far to assume she wasn't 100 percent, even when she was healthy enough to play between these injuries.
The Fever were 8-5 with her in the lineup and 16-15 when she was out. They were able to battle their way up to the No. 6 seed in the WNBA Playoffs and didn't stop there. The Fever, without Clark, upset the No. 3 seed Atlanta Dream in the first round and then took Game 1 from the Las Vegas Aces in the semifinals.
2026 WNBA season
The Fever were hoping to have Clark back fully healthy after she was shut down early in 2025. While she hasn't dealt with the same lower leg injuries that troubled her the previous season, a nagging back injury kept her out of four of the Fever's first 27 games.
The first game Clark missed was May 20, the Fever's fifth game of the season — a 90-73 win over the expansion Portland Fire. She then sat out back-to-back games on June 27 and July 5, double-digit wins over the Sparks and Aces by a combined 38 points. She sat out again on July 9, a three-point win over the Phoenix Mercury.
At the All-Star Break, the Fever were 4-0 without Clark in the lineup, and 13-10 when she played.
While Clark has continued to miss games, her performance has been much better and more consistent than in her injury-ravaged 2025 campaign. At the All-Star Break, Clark was averaging 21.0 points, 7.9 assists and 3.8 rebounds per game, shooting 43.5 percent from the field and 34.5 percent from beyond the arc.
Caitlin Clark full injury history
SEASON | INJURY | GAMES MISSED |
|---|---|---|
2025 (Preseason) | Lower Leg Tightness | 1 |
2025 | Left Quad Strain | 5 |
2025 | Left Groin Injury | 4 |
2025 | Groin Injury | 22 |
2026 | Back injury | 4 |
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