Face of the league Caitlin Clark will not partake in any 2025 WNBA All-Star Game events after enduring a late groin injury.
Caitlin Clark is opting to take the WNBA All-Star break for its intended purpose.
The Indiana Fever star and face of the league announced that she would remove herself from the festivities set to be staged in Indianapolis as she deals with a groin injury that marred the final portions of her sophomore season’s first half.
“I am incredibly sad and disappointed to say I can’t participate in the 3-Point Contest or the All-Star Game. I have to rest my body,” Clark said in a statement from the Fever, nonetheless praising the Indianapolis Host Committee’s hard work and expressing hope for the “best All-Star [Weekend] yet.” “I will still be at Gainbridge Fieldhouse for all the action and I’m looking forward to helping Sandy [Brondello] coach our team to a win. Can’t wait to see you all out there!”
Lower-body injuries have eaten away at Clark’s second WNBA tour, which has seen her average 16.5 points and 8.8 assists to date. The latest is a groin issue that removed her from the closing stages of Tuesday’s win over Connecticut in Boston and kept her out of a Wednesday visit to New York entirely.
On Thursday, Indiana Fever head coach Stephanie White gave insight to why Clark’s injury status changed from questionable to out.
“Just the imaging that she [Clark] was able to get this afternoon,” White said in a presser.
Clark won the fan vote for the 2025 festivities, which earned her the right to captain and curate one of the teams set to battle in Saturday’s main event at the Fever’s home of Gainbridge Fieldhouse (8:30 p.m. ET, ABC). She was also set to partake in Friday’s 3-Point Contest that features defending champion Allisha Gray (Atlanta) and Sabrina Ionescu (New York), who is making her first appearance in the event since her record-breaking showing in Las Vegas’ 2023 edition.
Clark’s Saturday squad is set to feature Ionescu, A’ja Wilson (Las Vegas), and her Indiana teammate Aliyah Boston in the opening five, though fellow starter Satou Sabally (Phoenix) has dropped out due to an ankle injury. It is set to face a group led by fan vote runner-up Napheea Collier (Minnesota), who added Gray, Paige Bueckers (Dallas), Nneka Ogwumike (Seattle), and Breanna Stewart (New York) to her own starting five.
Caitlin Clark is the latest WNBA All-Star to drop out due to medical issues, as the injury report also includes Sabally and Rhyne Howard (Atlanta). The latter, stationed on Team Collier, has already been replaced by Kayla McBride (Minnesota) though subsequent substitutes have not been announced as of press time.
All-Star Replacements for Caitlin Clark and Satou Sabally
Possible candidates to replace Clark and Sabally could include Natasha Howard or Lexie Hull, the latter of whom is shooting over 46 percent from three-point range. Natasha Cloud (New York) and/or Erica Wheeler (Seattle) are partaking in Friday’s Skills Challenge and could earn a promotion to the All-Star roster if necessary.
[[UPDATE: 3:10 p.m. ET]]: The WNBA has announced that Brionna Jones (Atlanta) and Brittney Sykes (Washington) will join Team Clark as injury replacements for Sabally and the eponymous leader.
Geoff Magliocchetti is on X @GeoffJMags
