Fever's Caitlin Clark (quad) could return as early as next week - ESPN

INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark will be re-evaluated this weekend as she looks to come back from a left quad strain that has sidelined her for the last three games. While it is possible she could be back as early as Tuesday, the 2024 No. 1 pick said she will not rush her return.

«I'll miss this weekend's game [Saturday against the Chicago Sky], but after that, it's day-by-day and see how I feel, and just turn to the medical staff and what they think,» Clark said. «I feel like I've made a lot of progress and I feel good, and I'm not going to rush coming back. It's just not worth it. But after this weekend, I'll be reevaluated and we'll have a better idea of when I'll return.»

After the Sky, the Fever play two of the top teams in the league consecutively: the Atlanta Dream on June 10 and then the defending champion New York Liberty on June 14.

«We'll see,» Clark said on her status for Tuesday. «We're trying not to put an exact date out there, because it is kind of a day-by-day thing and see how I feel. It's the type of injury like, you don't know, when I wake up, I'll feel different than the day before. We'll see. It could be a possibility, but I could also not be available for that game, too.»

Clark spoke to reporters on Thursday for the first time since being ruled out on Memorial Day for at least two weeks with the quad strain, marking the first time across her collegiate and pro careers that she's ever been missed games.

She said that she suffered the injury early in the Fever's May 24 loss to the New York Liberty. Clark was dealing with quad tightness earlier in training camp, also on the left leg, but the Fever have called this a separate, new injury.

«I think it's been different,» Clark said of being