Saturday’s season-opener wasn’t Clark’s triumphant return, but it represented a necessary and promising start.
It has been an odyssey for the now third-year WNBA player. She played only 13 games last season after a nagging groin injury that ended her season, and she underwent months of rehab to get back on the court for the 2026 season. It’s been roughly 428,000 minutes since Caitlin Clark last played in a WNBA game.
Don’t let the stoic Clark tell you this season opener is just one game. She’s not fooling anyone. It was special for her to get back on the hardwood in a live game. There’s no doubt there was nervous energy within her. She’s human, just like all of us.
Clark had to wonder how she would do in her first game back. We were all wondering for ourselves. As much as her fans want it, she wants it as badly as they do.
In an interview with ESPN’s Malika Andrews this week, she mentioned how tough it was to be watching her teammate play in the postseason and not contribute to help them out. She said she missed entertaining the fans.
On Saturday afternoon, basketball’s queen made her anticipated return to mixed results in the Indiana Fever’s 107-104 loss to the Dallas Wings at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. The two-time WNBA All-Star had an opportunity to create a signature moment with seven seconds to go in regulation. She hoisted a 3-point attempt that could have tied the game at 107, but it was way short.
It symbolized a pedestrian 20-point performance, as she shot 7-of-18 and 2-of-9 from 3-point range. She also finished with seven assists and five rebounds in 31 minutes. Her defense remained passive at times — too often matador-like against an aggressive Dallas backcourt.
Clark started the game by passing to Kelsey Mitchell, who scored, giving the Fever a 2-0 lead. She followed that by missing a shot. Her layup gave the home team a 4-3 lead. She finished the first quarter with six points. In that quarter, she didn’t force-feed it. She served as a facilitator by setting up Mitchell, who finished with a game-high 30 points.
The 2024 WNBA Rookie of the Year finished the first half with eight points on 2-of-6 shooting and 0-for-3 on the 3-point line. Her four turnovers stood out in that half, and she finished the game with five turnovers.
Clark’s best moments came in the third quarter. She opened with eight straight points, including a pair of three-pointers, then punctuated the period with a circus layup at the buzzer that tied the game at 80 — and pushed her career scoring total past 1,000 points, joining Fever G.O.A.T. Tamika Catchings, Erica Wheeler, and Mitchell ever as the only franchise players to reach that number.
Clark drives the ball past Azzi Fudd during the first half (photo courtesy Doug McSchooler/AP)
She couldn’t duplicate that in the fourth quarter. She served as a distributor, setting up picks for Aliyah Boston (23 points) and Mitchell, while her counterpart, Odyssey Sims, guarded her. When she tried to shoot her shot, she misfired on four of five shots.
Clark mentioned it would be a process to get back to being a star again. To expect her to be a hero in Game 1 of her recovery was unrealistic, as much as we dared to dream. Sports are not fairy tales where everything ends well. Oftentimes, as in life, it results in grief and misery, as we saw with her missed shot in the Fever’s second-to-last possession of the game.
She was able to get by with adrenaline. Eventually, it gave in to rust and fatigue. Like most shooters, she needs to get into a rhythm by playing plenty of games. Simulation in practice can only go so far.
But, all in all, Clark had to be encouraged about how her day went. She showed she can make an impact. Her playmaking continues to be her strength. Most importantly, she finished the game without a trace of injury. It’s understandable why she was in good spirits after the game.
No, it wasn’t a triumphant return, but it was a necessary and promising one. Now the real work begins: the grind of a long season with the hope that it gets better.
The journey continues.
