“Not a Real Basketball Player if…”: Caitlin Clark Keeps Positive Outlook After Ankle Injury Scare vs Dream

Caitlin Clark had yet another impressive outing, leading the Indiana Fever to a win over the Atlanta Fever. Apart from her 19-point, 7-rebound, 7-assist performance, Clark also made it to the headlines for a fall that she suffered at one point in the beginning of the contest. Speaking about the injury scare, the rookie gave her supporters a huge relief by joking about it.

During the 3:10 mark of the first quarter, Clark rolled her left ankle while playing defense. She took a hard fall and was on the floor, seemingly in pain for quite a while. The 22-year-old’s teammates also had to help her get back on the bench.

However, the injury wasn’t serious enough to keep her sidelined for an extended period. The rookie made it back to the floor in the next quarter after getting taped up. Clark’s comment regarding the injury scare received more attention than the fall itself. While talking to the reporters during the post-game press conference, the sharpshooter trolled herself for looking “soft”.

“I saw the replay, and I look really soft. It wasn’t that bad of a turn, but it hurt,” Clark jokingly said.

She revealed that the minor ankle sprain stung for a little while. But, she was eventually fit enough to play for 37 minutes on the evening.

“So sometimes you just need to give yourself a second. If you ever sprained your ankle, it just kind of stings for a little bit. So I was good, they’re like ‘you wanna go to the back?’ I’m like ‘no, please, just tape right here, let’s go. We gotta keep going, get on with the game’,” Clark revealed.

The former Hawkeye would keep the jokes rolling, concluding by claiming that all basketball players suffer from multiple sprained ankles.

“You’re not a real basketball player if you haven’t sprained your ankle a bunch,” the 6ft guard said.

Clark isn’t inaccurate with her take. Sprained ankles and jammed fingers are among the most common injuries for basketball players. Fortunately, this injury wasn’t bad enough to keep her out for the entire contest.

Any injury to the 2024 Rookie of the Year contender can have a massive impact on the Fever. So far, the Indiana side is having a terrific campaign. Thanks to the invaluable contributions–18 points, 8.2 assists, and 5.8 rebounds–of Caitlin Clark, the franchise is 7^th in the standings with an impressive 14-16 record, sitting just 1.5 games behind the Phoenix Mercury.

Considering that the Fever has one of the easiest remaining schedules in the league, the team is on track to end their playoff drought and qualify in the postseason for the first time since 2016.