Caitlin Clark missed 39 games for the Indiana Fever last season due to injuries. She came back this month healthier than she’s been in over a year, and she’s already reminding everyone why the WNBA’s entire landscape shifted when she arrived.
Clark scored her 1,000th career WNBA point this week, a milestone the Fever celebrated before Friday’s game with a ceremony at center court. Fever legend Tamika Catchings presented Clark with a commemorative basketball, and the crowd at Gainbridge Fieldhouse made sure she felt every bit of the moment.
She’s averaging 22.0 points on 45.7% shooting in her first two games of the 2026 season. After months of rehab and what Clark herself described as a “mental battle” to get back to this level, she looks completely dialed in.
The Fever front office didn’t waste the offseason. They re-signed Kelsey Mitchell and Lexie Hull, added Monique Billings for frontcourt depth, and brought in first-round pick Raven Johnson. This is not the same roster Clark had around her when she was grinding through 2025 short-handed. Indiana built this team to compete for a championship.
Their odds reflect that ambition. The Fever currently have the fourth-best odds to win the WNBA title behind the Minnesota Lynx, the defending champion Las Vegas Aces, and the New York Liberty. The fact that Indiana is already in that conversation, before April even wraps up, tells you everything about the respect Clark commands around the league.
The 1,000-point milestone matters beyond the ceremony. She reached it in fewer games than any player in WNBA history, which adds to the long list of records she’s either broken or made irrelevant since her rookie year.
Last season’s injury was a genuine setback. Clark played with a toughness that earned respect throughout the league, but the physical toll was real and watching her sit out that many games was a blow for Indiana’s playoff chances.
That’s over now. Clark looked sharp, quick, and comfortable in the first two games. The Fever looked like a team that had direction and depth and a star who could carry them when it mattered.
The WNBA season is long, and the competition at the top is going to be fierce. But Clark’s return is the biggest story in women’s basketball right now, and based on these early numbers, she’s picking up exactly where her best basketball left off.
Watch Indiana closely this year. They’re a real threat.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
