While she was out for the majority of last season, though, Clark felt like she was able to still learn a lot from the sidelines, even if it was difficult for her to not play. <\/p>\n
\u201cSpeaking to last year, obviously I was in no reps because I wasn\u2019t playing. It\u2019s hard, it\u2019s very isolating to come to practice every single day and spend two hours getting treatment and rehab,\u201d Clark said. \u201cYou come out here and you have to show up and be the best teammate that you can be. I think that taught me a lot about what I can do if I\u2019m not on the court. <\/p>\n
\u201cI got to be their biggest fan. And I think that was a great experience for me because through a lot of my career, everybody else was my biggest fan. That doesn\u2019t mean I wasn\u2019t cheering for my teammates. I was playing the most amount of minutes, I had the ball in my hands, and when you\u2019re not doing that, you find another way to impact the team.\u201d<\/p>\n
Caitlin Clark talked about what she learned last year while spending most of the season injured.<\/p>\n
“I got to be their biggest fan. And I think that was a great experience for me because through a lot of my career, everybody else was my biggest fan.”<\/p>\n
(via @IndianaFever<\/a>) pic.twitter.com\/1PC6UEkWGT<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 The Sporting News (@sportingnews) April 19, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n Clark\u2019s always been a supportive teammate, but being forced to solely be a cheerleader caused her to really focus on how to uplift her teammates. Don\u2019t be surprised if this season you see Clark louder on the bench whenever she\u2019s subbed out. <\/p>\n Fever coach Stephanie White got to see Clark\u2019s initial return when she served as an assistant coach for Team USA in the FIBA World Cup qualifying games. Clark was named MVP<\/a> for the series because of her powerful performance on the court. It was like she never left.<\/p>\n \u201cI was really thankful that she had that opportunity,\u201d White said. \u201cWhen you’ve been training in a rehab kind of scenario, the first opportunity to go in a game is different. I thought her pace was really good. I thought she didn’t try to overdo anything. She let the game come to her. … She did such a great job of finding her spots of understanding time, space, rhythm. All of her timing looked really good. It’s hard when you’re not playing to simulate that.\u201d<\/p>\n Clark and the Fever will open up their 2026 season on Saturday, May 9 vs. the Dallas Wings, who will be led by reigning WNBA Rookie of the Year Paige Bueckers and No. 1 pick Azzi Fudd<\/a>. That will be a matchup for the ages.<\/p>\n More WNBA from Sports Illustrated![\"\"](\"https:\/\/assets.minutemediacdn.com\/platform\/google_discover_icon.svg\"){kind=icon}
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