This Tuesday, the Indiana Fever and Connecticut Sun squared off in Boston, bringing the WNBA to a sold-out TD Garden crowd. But the most memorable moment wasn’t a highlight reel play. <\/p>\n
Instead, it was star guard Caitlin Clark visibly in pain on the Fever bench, just moments after holding her groin and checking out with 39.1 seconds left in the fourth quarter.<\/p>\n
The following day, Indiana officially ruled Clark out just hours ahead of Wednesday night’s matchup against the New York Liberty in the Barclays Center, confirming a third stint on the shelf<\/a> for the young phenom this season.<\/p>\n Reporting just now on SportsCenter: Caitlin Clark is officially downgraded to out for tonight. TBD still for All-Star.<\/p>\n \u2014 Alexa Philippou (@alexaphilippou) July 16, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n Unfortunately, it’s just the latest in a lengthy string of blows to some of the game’s biggest stars.<\/p>\n With Clark’s injury attracting much of the limelight ahead of a marquee matchup between New York and Indiana, Liberty head coach Sandy Brondello offered a fix to the league’s mounting injury problem.<\/p>\n “There has been a lot this year,” Brondello acknowledged<\/a> in Wednesday’s pregame press conference. “What’s the solution? Probably having a longer season, having less games on top of each other. I think that’s the only solution. Cause these players are conditioned, but sometimes that’s part of the game. Hopefully, maybe in the future, we’ll have a longer season and a little less games in the week.”<\/p>\n The WNBA expanded its schedule to a 44-game regular season for 2025. While that presents an opportunity for increased revenue and popularity, it also places an added physical burden on the league’s players.<\/p>\n The Fever are a prime example of the concerns Brondello has with the current state of the WNBA schedule.<\/p>\n Wednesday’s game against the Liberty, a non-competitive 98-77 loss, concluded a stretch of five games in eight days for Indiana, capped off with a road back-to-back in Boston and New York.<\/p>\n Physical fatigue or wear-and-tear can manifest itself in the form of lower-body injuries, a trend that can’t be ignored in recent weeks.<\/p>\n Clark’s right groin injury is her third different lower-body injury this season, following a left-quad strain on May 24 and a left groin injury on June 24. <\/p>\n Over in Arizona, the Phoenix Mercury’s leading scorer Satou Sabally has been sidelined with an ankle sprain since July 3 and will no longer compete<\/a> in this year’s All-Star festivities.<\/p>\n Satou Sabally shares that she will not participate in the ASG in an Instagram post. pic.twitter.com\/6dzVjKU8LA<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Annie Costabile (@AnnieCostabile) July 17, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n Meanwhile, the Chicago Sky were shorthanded in a 37-point blowout at the hands of the Atlanta Dream on Wednesday, missing key starters Ariel Atkins and All-Star Angel Reese, both of whom were sidelined with leg injuries.<\/p>\n “Ankles and varying degrees of injuries, muscles that have kept them out — maybe that’s a load thing.” Brondello posited. “When it gets to muscle, it’s more about probably too many games, too much on top of each other. I think that’s how it is.”<\/p>\n Brondello’s had to navigate through injuries this year as well, losing star forward Jonquel Jones to a right ankle sprain on June 19, a re-aggravation of an ankle injury that stems back to a June 5 game against the Washington Mystics. Jones hopes to return after the All-Star break, but her absence contributed to an uneven stretch<\/a> of play in New York.<\/p>\n Jonquel Jones is running full five-on-five scrimmages at practice today, as she works back from the ankle injury that has had her sidelined since mid-June. Sandy Brondello has expressed hope that JJ would return shortly after the All-Star break. @Winsidr<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/8ohsq2FJTw<\/a><\/p>\n