INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark refused to let an injury ruin her WNBA All-Star weekend, so she found other ways to participate.
Clark spoke out about the ongoing collective bargaining negotiations, mingled with fans at sponsor events, showed other players around her adopted hometown, Indianapolis, and even traded light jabs with five-time All-Star Napheesa Collier.
And while Clark did sneak in some treatment time for her injured right groin, she spent most of her time basking in the moment.
“I'm not going to say I've just been getting round-the-clock treatment,” she said during a pregame news conference with the two team captains — Clark and Collier. “I've still been trying to enjoy this weekend and soak all this in. Once tomorrow comes around, I'll completely shift my focus to getting as healthy as possible.”
The injury kept Clark out of Wednesday night's first-half finale in New York, Friday night's 3-point contest in front of a near sellout crowd at the 17,000-seat Gainbridge Fieldhouse and Saturday's game to wrap up the weekend.
It's still uncertain whether she'll return when the Fever resume their season Tuesday by hosting defending champion New York.
What is clear, though, is that this has not been the season — or the weekend — Clark envisioned back in May. After missing no games during her college career or last season when she earned the league's Rookie of the Year Award, three injuries have already cost her 10 games as Indiana hovers near the middle of the pack.
So when she got hurt again last Tuesday, in the final minute of a victory over Connecticut, Clark immediately draped a towel over her head.
“When the injury happened, it was pretty frustrating. Like I knew what the coming days were going to hold for myself,” she said. “But I feel like dealing with that and then also trying to look at in the most positive manner I can and being a part of this. Maybe I'm not able to play in the game, but I can still be here and participate and I have a ton of friends and family in town that are having a really good time.”
Somehow, Clark seemingly has managed to strike a similar balance.
She joked about trash-talking, whether players' late-night schedules may have led to the cancellation of both Saturday morning shootarounds while also speaking up about the biggest topic in town — the new CBA deal.
Clark was one of about 40 players to attend Thursday's meeting in Indy and promised to be more vocal as a second-year player about what players want out of a new deal that is likely to include larger salaries, a softer salary cap and potentially more sponsors.
“I think we all have a good understanding that this is very important to the future of our careers, the future of the league,” she said as Collier nodded. “Obviously, there's a good amount of players who have been in this league a really long time and are excited about where it's going to continue to go, and they've been fighting for change for a long time."
But most of all, Clark just wanted everyone in town to enjoy Indy's first All-Star weekend, which seemed to be a hit with fans and players.
“I think this weekend has been absolutely incredible,” she said. “I hope every player in the league, whether you're participating in the game tonight, the 3-point competition, the skills competition or are just here to enjoy the All-Star weekend, I hope they felt the same and the love from the city.”
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AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball
Michael Marot, The Associated Press
