Fever's Clark out at least 2 weeks for quad strain

Indiana Fever prima Caitlin Clark volition beryllium retired astatine slightest 2 weeks with a near quad strain, the squad announced Monday.

Further updates volition beryllium provided pursuing reevaluation, the squad said.

Fever manager Stephanie White said that she wasn't definite erstwhile the wounded happened but that Clark reported immoderate symptom successful her limb aft the team's nonaccomplishment to the New York Liberty connected Saturday. Clark subsequently underwent an MRI and was diagnosed with the strain, though White said she did not cognize its grade.

Clark was not contiguous for the unfastened viewing information of signifier Monday. White said she was unsure whether Clark volition question with the squad portion she is out.

Last year's Rookie of the Year and a first-team All-WNBA selection, Clark is averaging 19.0 points and a league-best 9.3 assists done 4 games this season.

"It's a large accidental for our squad to find an identity, it's a large accidental for our squad play successful a antithetic way, and I besides deliberation it's a large accidental for Caitlin to ticker the crippled from the sideline and to turn astir a coaching caput and mindset and spot immoderate antithetic things that we whitethorn beryllium talking astir connected film, addressing successful practice, to spot it make successful unrecorded action," White said.

This marks the archetypal regular-season games Clark volition person missed successful her young WNBA career. Clark was arsenic durable successful college, ne'er missing a crippled portion astatine Iowa, wherever she became the all-time starring scorer successful NCAA Division I basketball.

However, the constituent defender dealt with a near quad wounded during grooming camp, and sat retired a preseason contention versus the Washington Mystics with what she described arsenic quad tightness. She told section media astatine the clip that it was from "probably conscionable a small excessively overmuch basketball." But this issue, portion connected the aforesaid leg, is simply a caller injury, according to a squad spokesperson.

"Obviously, she's a rival and wants to play. Obviously, everyone wants to ticker her play. But for me, it's maintaining perspective," White said. "It's making definite that we code this successful a mode that doesn't impact agelong term, that we instrumentality attraction of it, don't over-push, don't overexert, making definite that we instrumentality the long-game attack to this truthful that we're not having lingering issues passim the people of the season. Sometimes large players don't archer you erstwhile they're hurting. I'm gladsome that she did, due to the fact that we request to nip this successful the bud."

The Fever (2-2) adjacent question to Baltimore, wherever they'll look the Mystics (2-3) connected Wednesday successful their archetypal crippled without Clark. After that, Indiana volition big the Connecticut Sun connected Friday and the Mystics connected June 3 earlier heading backmost connected the roadworthy to play the Chicago Sky connected June 7 and the Atlanta Dream connected June 10.

Following quality of her injury, Clark's likelihood to triumph the WNBA MVP grant lengthened from -115 to +210, according to ESPN BET. Minnesota Lynx guardant Napheesa Collier's likelihood shortened from +185 to -135, making her the caller favorite, portion Las Vegas Aces halfway A'ja Wilson moved from +825 to +600. The Fever lengthened from +300 to +330 to triumph the WNBA title.

ESPN's Doug Greenberg contributed to this report.