Caitlin Clark put her Indiana Fever jersey on for the primary time since mid-July in a preseason recreation in opposition to the New York Liberty.
BROOKLYN—Name it a Caitlin Clark incubation for the Indiana Fever.
Clark unofficially returned to WNBA motion on Saturday afternoon in opposition to the New York Liberty at Barclays Middle. She had beforehand partaken in World Cup qualifying motion with the US‘ girls’s nationwide staff, the place she gained MVP honors in March’s San Juan competitors. However Saturday marked Clark’s first time in a Fever uniform since a mid-July win over Connecticut served as her coda because of a sequence of lower-body accidents.
Clark received the comparatively awkward enterprise out of the best way pretty rapidly, scoring 5 factors inside the recreation’s first 71 seconds. She did, nonetheless, miss her ultimate eight beneath harder defensive scrutiny from Rebekah Gardner and different New York reserves. Clark additionally dished out 4 assists and pulled in three rebounds throughout her 17-minute shift earlier than the headliners‘ exodus early within the third quarter.
It was most likely sufficient to earn the metaphorical postgame journey to Shake Shack from head coach Stephanie White.
„I assumed she was good,“ White lauded. „I assumed she did not power something. She performed with nice intention, and the whole lot that she did was within the move. She was speaking at a excessive degree. If we’re speaking in regards to the shot-making, that is going to return. They play her in another way within the W than they do in worldwide basketball. We have simply received to search out methods to free her up, to get her some straightforward appears to be like.“
CAITLIN CLARK FOR THREEEEE
Feels good to be again pic.twitter.com/F4vaPtUs2Y
— Clark Report (@CClarkReport) April 25, 2026
Clark herself foresaw a few of her early struggles however appreciated the early work on the trail again to prominence, particularly after final season’s expanded absence.
„I believe anytime you get to place in your uniform and lace up your sneakers, you do not take that without any consideration, particularly having come off of final yr,“ Clark mentioned within the prelude. „I believe, for me, coming into this recreation, there’s simply a variety of pleasure, not a ton of nerves. [We’ll] get on the market, run round. It’ll be most likely a bit sloppy right here and there for each groups. That is form of what preseason video games are about. You give all people some run, you determine what lineups work, what do not, and all people’s simply making an attempt to get their footing once more. Identical goes for me, too.“
Regardless of Clark’s misfires, Indiana ultimately gained the sport 109-91, establishing distance thanks partly to 16 second-half factors from Shatori Walker-Kimbrough.
It Would possibly Take Extra to Flush the Fever This Time
For all of the speak of Clark’s returning mastery, the Fever carried out itself extremely effectively after her unscheduled departure final season: led by the efforts of Kelsey Mitchell and Aliyah Boston (who didn’t play on Saturday), shorthanded Indiana not solely gained the Commissioner’s Cup in-season match but additionally fell only one win wanting a WNBA Finals exhibiting. Eventual champion Las Vegas Aces wanted a Boston/Mitchell-less time beyond regulation to kick them out in a winner-take-all semifinal set.
What Clark brings to the desk in her return to navy, pink, and yellow is apparent, however the level guard defined what she hopes to contribute to the resilient trigger in her personal phrases previous to tip-off. All of the whereas, she hopes that outdated and new teammates alike will recall the wholesome stubbornness they picked up in CC absentia.
„We went by a ton of adversity final yr, and I believe you must give a variety of credit score for the those that have been right here and which have returned, and in addition the those that have not,“ Clark mentioned. „They allowed us to nonetheless be a very nice staff after we had fairly a couple of accidents. I believe we have now to depend on what we did final yr, too. We understood adversity and what it takes to get there.“
„I believe all of us have a perception [that] we might be there, we will get there,“ Clark mentioned. „We all know that there is going to be highs. We all know there’s going to be lows, particularly me going into my third yr. [In] my first two years of my profession, it was like the whole lot feels prefer it’s actually, actually good, or it is actually, actually unhealthy. That is simply form of how professional basketball works: whether or not it is on the boys’s aspect, whether or not it is on the ladies’s aspect, you form of simply received to remain proper within the center. I believe that is going to be necessary for our staff.“
Saturday’s sneak preview had some semblance of the actual deal because of a packed Brooklyn crowd and a number of other star sights residing as much as their reputations. Indiana led 53-48 at halftime, which signaled the tip for New York’s main girls. There’s clearly loads to work on however the half-victory was maybe one of the best omen one might’ve requested for immediately take a look at.
„I am so happy with our power, with our communication, our capability to play by, I do not actually need to use the phrase errors, however when it wasn’t excellent, we have been in a position to play by it,“ White mentioned, citing a must „transfer the ball higher“ in her message to her high girls. „That is a tribute to those guys and their power, effort, and focus.“
Supporting Solid Steps Up
Indiana (1-0) additionally basked in an 18-point efficiency from Mitchell, a trio of triples from Sophie Cunningham (who additionally returned after a chronic medical absence), and a daring defensive debut from rookie Raven Johnson, who led all individuals with eight assists whereas registering a pair of emphatic rejections. Main veteran addition Monique Billings (who performed with Clark throughout her latest American journey) slid in effectively with two-way alternatives.
Billings and Johnson, the latest No. 10 decide of the 2026 WNBA draft, have been the headliners of the Fever’s transactional storm whereas it re-upped with acquainted faces (i.e., Cunningham, Mitchell, Lexie Hull). Its competitors stole the headlines from Clark’s return: the Liberty signed Satou Sabally (one other Saturday sit-out) whereas ex-Indianapolis inside star Natasha Howard, who shaped a dominant tandem with Boston, might effectively be the lacking piece in Minnesota.
However hanging with, and besting, New York’s starters is an effective begin for White, Clark, and Co. in a season that’s nonetheless burdened and blessed with nice expectations. The hassle was a stable sequel to the tone established final yr, which White analyzed earlier than persevering with to put the prior tour within the rearview mirror.
Raven Johnson on her debut:#WNBA pic.twitter.com/SoeNesd1AA
— Geoff Magliocchetti (@GeoffJMags) April 25, 2026
„I believe the most important factor is we have now to regulate what we will management,“ White mentioned of the most important lesson she discovered final yr. „There are a variety of circumstances and conditions the place we will, and I believe our group a yr in the past did a very good job of that. We continued to simply put one foot in entrance of the opposite, and it was subsequent participant up mentality whereas additionally embracing new gamers, giving grace for the journey that we had, and understanding that it isn’t at all times going to be excellent.“
„I believe the most important takeaway from a season in the past is simply how linked our locker room was, and the way necessary that’s to groups,“ White continued. „Linked groups are successful groups, and it isn’t at all times going to go the best way that we would like it to go, individually or collectively. However sustaining that connection, with the ability to have sincere conversations with each other, with the ability to maintain each other accountable and be held accountable, with the ability to carry each other up and be one another’s largest supporter, I believe all of these issues are necessary classes that we discovered a yr in the past. We wished to be a player-led locker room, and to proceed that’s necessary.“
The Fever closes out its preseason pair on Saturday, internet hosting the Nigerian girls’s nationwide basketball staff at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
Geoff Magliocchetti is on X @GeoffJMags
