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On Thursday, Caitlin Clark fans' worst nightmare came true as the Indiana Fever guard announced she will not participate in the All-Star Weekend to be held in Indianapolis from 18-19 July.
The Fever broke the news to the fans as they released Clark's statement in an Instagram post.
"I am incredibly sad and disappointed to say I can't participate in the 3-Point Contest or the All-Star Game. I have to rest my body. I will still be at Gainbridge Fieldhouse for all the action and I'm looking forward to helping Sandy coach our team to a win," Clark said.
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Caitlin Clark has been dealing with a left groin injury for the past few weeks. The groin injury caused the Fever guard to miss five games last month. On Tuesday, she reaggravated the injury in her team's 85-77 win against the Connecticut Sun.
Before Fever's Wednesday game against the New York Liberty, Clark was listed as questionable on the injury list. However, she was downgraded to "out" before the game started. Indiana lost that game 98-77.
However, what most fans feared was Caitlin Clark's absence during the All-Star weekend. It would have been her first All-Star game as a captain, but fans will have to wait another year to see her lead the team.
There is still no definite timeline on Caitlin Clark's return
Caitlin Clark's absence during the All-Star will break a lot of hearts, especially when the fans see team Clark compete against team Collier without their captain. However, there is more concerning news for the fans as there is no return timeline for the Fever star guard as of now.
During the pre-game media conference of the Fever's 98-77 loss to the New York Liberty on Friday, coach Stephanie White revealed the reasons for sidelining Caitlin Clark from the matchup.
"There was imaging done, and, you know, obviously ruling her out for tonight, but there hasn't been any discussion beyond tonight," White said.
She shared no specific timeline for Clark's return in her statements. On Wednesday, WNBA legend Lisa Leslie commented on the Fever star's injury during an appearance as a guest on the CBS Sports' "We Need to Talk" show.
Leslie explained that she had gone through a similar injury in 2006, and she had struggled a lot with it. The WNBA legend explained that groin injury requires different treatments as it is an internal issue. For now, the fans can only hope for the Fever's star guard to make a speedy recovery and return as soon as she can.
