A yr faraway from the left quad sprain that unraveled her sophomore season earlier than it started, Caitlin Clark walked into Indiana Fever coaching camp on Sunday, having realized so much after an injury-impacted season that induced her to overlook 31 common video games and the entire playoffs.
“I really feel nice. Tremendous excited to be again right here,” Clark mentioned. “I feel I’ve an incredible perspective on camp and never taking something without any consideration. Clearly, this time final yr, I used to be going by some issues.”
Throughout 13 video games, Clark averaged 16.5 factors, 5.0 rebounds, 8.8 assists, and 1.6 steals in 2025. She missed the All-Star festivities Indianapolis hosted, watched the Fever’s run to the WNBA semifinals largely from the bench, and spent months in a task she had by no means occupied at any degree of basketball. She is totally cleared to enter this camp, with no restrictions, and she or he mentioned the work to get there was deliberate.
“I really feel actually wholesome and really feel like I’ve put myself ready to be as wholesome as I may be to begin the season,” Clark mentioned. “Simply staying on high of that and having lots of enjoyable.”
Clark Returns to Camp Wholesome
Clark, now in her third season, emphasised the significance of restraint somewhat than pushing herself too arduous to her personal detriment.
“I am the individual that would not wish to sit out a single rep. I wish to be in there each single time,” Clark mentioned. “I really like competing, and I really like taking part in, and none of that has modified. But it surely’s about being smarter with my physique and understanding what it takes.”
Stephanie White, again for her second season as head coach, mentioned she’s going to pull Clark out of drills at factors throughout camp. The reasoning is much less about what Clark can deal with proper now than about what a 44-game schedule will ask of her by August.
“Now we have to be aware of reps. She would not want each rep in camp,” White mentioned. “It is about managing her workload whereas integrating others. Depth will assist us hold everybody contemporary.”
Clark acknowledged she and White have already had these conversations. She additionally mentioned she has come to grasp them in another way than she might need a yr in the past.
“Camp days are actually lengthy, you are on the court docket two and a half to 3 hours, so caring for my physique at this level within the season might be a very powerful factor,” Clark mentioned. “Whether or not that is restoration or pre-court therapy, it is these sorts of issues. I’ve by no means actually sat on the sidelines earlier than, so it was a humbling expertise and gave me an excellent perspective on find out how to be an incredible teammate and chief.”
Classes Realized
The bodily work that introduced her to Sunday started lengthy earlier than camp opened. Clark described focused muscle-activation coaching and an expanded partnership with the Fever’s athletic coaching employees, and acknowledged the psychological element of coming back from harm as its personal impediment.
“I have been very intentional,” Clark mentioned. “While you’re younger, you simply lace up and play, however that is not sustainable. There’s been lots of focused work for muscle activation. I’ve constructed an incredible relationship with our athletic coach. She’s been unbelievable by this course of. There’s nonetheless a psychological aspect to getting back from harm, however I do know I’ve carried out every thing I can to be wholesome.”
Clark additionally used 2025 as a course in one thing she had by no means been requested to do. She mentioned the expertise of rehabbing whereas remaining current for teammates reshaped how she views her function, notably on days she isn’t on the ground.
“It is very isolating to undergo rehab after which nonetheless present up as the most effective teammate you may be,” Clark mentioned. “It taught me find out how to affect the workforce in numerous methods. I bought to be their greatest fan. That was an incredible expertise as a result of I’ve at all times been on the court docket taking part in heavy minutes. While you’re not, you must discover different methods to contribute.”
Fever Retains Core
The runway again started in March at USA Basketball’s FIBA Girls’s World Cup qualifying match in Puerto Rico, the place Clark shared a backcourt with Fever ahead Aliyah Boston and labored below White. Clark known as it the perfect setting to get better her rhythm. Boston known as it a aid.
“Truthfully, she seemed like herself,” Boston mentioned. “Seeing her again wholesome and taking part in at that degree made me actually pleased.”
White zeroed in on one thing extra particular.
“Her tempo and decision-making,” White mentioned. “She did not pressure something and let the sport come to her. Her timing seemed actually good, which is tough after time away.”
Clark returns to a roster that appears so much just like the one she left, and that’s by design. Kelsey Mitchell signed the WNBA’s first supermax contract, a $1.4 million deal; Lexie Hull and Sophie Cunningham re-signed; free agent Monique Billings joined the frontcourt; and the Fever drafted level guard Raven Johnson. Boston, in the meantime, signed a four-year extension price $6.3 million, the best whole worth in WNBA historical past, after a lower-leg harm reduce brief her Unmatched season.
“I used to be tremendous blessed. God is nice,” Boston mentioned of the extension. “Simply to be right here and get that extension, I am excited. The employees was excited, and I really feel like that is the place I am meant to be.”
Boston mentioned the rationale to remain was not difficult.
“Indy is a enjoyable place to be,” she mentioned. “The basketball we’re taking part in is nice, the individuals are wonderful, and I really like taking part in with them. That is engaging, so why not keep?”
Clark gave credit score to the entrance workplace for working by a condensed free company, and mentioned the gamers who returned did one thing that advised her what she already suspected about final yr’s room.
“I feel it went nice. It’s important to give our entrance workplace credit score, it was a really condensed timeline,” Clark mentioned. “I am actually grateful for the those who needed to return right here and for those that got here again. That speaks to what they skilled final yr and the way nice our locker room was.”
A Lengthy Strategy to Go
White was not concerned with softening something. A workforce that got here one win in need of the WNBA Finals, she mentioned, has to demand extra of itself in 2026.
“We have taken one other step,” White mentioned. “Now we have to grasp what it takes every day. Put the workforce first, prioritize chemistry, and count on extra of ourselves. It is about consistency and placing ourselves in place for achievement.”
White additionally sketched out a sharper identification on each ends of the ground.
“Now we have extra dimension and may do extra defensively,” White mentioned. “We needs to be a greater rebounding workforce, which permits us to play sooner. We wish to be high three in protection and improve our tempo.”
For Boston, the distinction with final yr is its personal benefit.
“It offers us lots of confidence,” Boston mentioned of coming into camp wholesome. “Final yr was chaotic, so having everybody wholesome and prepared offers us a contemporary begin.”
Clark was cautious Sunday to not body 2026 in championship-or-bust phrases, although she mentioned in a February NBC look that she believed the Fever could be the favourite to win all of it, and she or he didn’t stroll any of it again. What she provided as a substitute was an extended view of her personal arc, and a reminder that the résumé she is chasing has barely began.
“I’ve solely performed about 60 WNBA video games, so I’ve bought a methods to go,” Clark mentioned. “Simply sustaining my well being is essential. USA Basketball was actually good for me to get again on the market and get my ft below me. You are taking part in with the most effective gamers on this planet, so there is not any higher setting. It brings out the most effective in you.”
She paused, then returned to the theme that framed every thing else she mentioned.
“I’ve an extended methods to go,” Clark mentioned. “And that is the thrilling half.”
Indiana opens preseason play Saturday, April 25, on the New York Liberty, and begins the common season at house on Might 9 towards the Dallas Wings.
