Sophie Cunningham details Caitlin Clark's injury, explains why she's missed Fever's last 13 games

With three impact players out for the season and Caitlin Clark still on the mend with a prolonged groin injury, is it time for the Indiana Fever to worry ahead of the playoffs? Sophie Cunningham is the latest to suffer a significant injury and she understands frustrations from fans who want to see Clark back in the lineup.

Coach Stephanie White and the Fever continue to refresh, Clark's "day-to-day" status and that's the truth, according to Cunningham, who herself was knocked out of the rest of the season with a knee injury last Sunday.

"She doesn't even know (when she'll be back). Literally, it's a day-by-day legit type of thing," Cunningham said on Tuesday's "Show Me Something" podcast. "Yeah, it's close, you have to remember she would be playing if she wasn't in the WNBA right now. At this level, with how deep and how good people are nowadays in our league, which is the best it's ever been just trying to get her back in game shape is what they're trying to do.

"Again, it's literally a day-by-day. I'm not withholding any information."

Injury-stricken Fever at crossroads: Should Indiana continue push toward WNBA playoffs or focus on the future?

Jack Maloney

Clark's absence from Sunday's game against the Connecticut Sun marked the 13th consecutive game she's missed since sustaining the injury on July 15.

"[She is] going through the rehab process, and then we want to reintegrate her from a strength and conditioning standpoint and then get her back to basketball activities," White said last week on ESPN's NBA Today. "So we're taking it one day at a time, really slow rolling it, slow playing it this time ... The most important thing for us is Caitlin's long-term health and getting her back to 100% before we put her back on the floor." 

The last official update from the Fever came on July 24 saying that Clark "underwent further medical evaluations earlier this week, which confirmed that no additional injuries or damage were discovered."

Indiana's next game is Friday night at home against the first-place Minnesota Lynx. Clark's only played in 13 games this season, due to a left quad strain that kept her out for three weeks, a left groin injury that sidelined her for two weeks and now a right groin injury. 

She missed All-Star Weekend in Indianapolis with the injury despite the Fever hosting the event and being the league's leading vote-getter.

Clark said the soft tissue injuries have bothered her and the "most challenging" part of being away from the lineup has been letting go and letting the injuries heal.