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Caitlin Clark Did Something Really Nice for Fever Teammate Who’s Out for the Season

Kristen Wong

Caitlin Clark had a sweet gesture for fellow guard Aari McDonald during the Fever's loss to the Valkyries on Sunday night.
Caitlin Clark had a sweet gesture for fellow guard Aari McDonald during the Fever's loss to the Valkyries on Sunday night. / Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images
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Fever superstar Caitlin Clark has still been finding ways to make an impact during her extended injury absence.

Clark missed her 18th straight game due to a groin injury Sunday night and watched from the sidelines as the Fever lost, 75-63, to the Valkyries. It remains unclear whether she'll return to action by the end of the WNBA regular season. Though the second-year guard isn't physically able to help her teammates on the court, she's made a conscious effort to help them off of it.

Clark was seen sharing a priceless moment with Fever teammate Aari McDonald's AAU team, which is based in Sacramento and made the trip to watch the Fever-Valkyries showdown at Chase Center.

Before tip-off, Clark posed for a group photo with the young hoopers as they understandably screamed in excitement. Several of the girls looked like they couldn't believe what was happening:

McDonald reposted video of Clark's sweet link-up on her Instagram Stories and wrote, "Thank you @caitlinclark for making my girls' night. Bummed I couldn't be there, but s/o to my teammates for taking a picture with my aau team."

McDonald broke a bone in her right foot in early August and was ruled out for the remainder of the season. She was averaging 9.8 points and 4.7 assists per game as Clark's stand-in prior to the injury.

The Fever suffered their first sweep of the season against Golden State on Sunday (0-3) and fell to 21-19. After going .500 in their last six games, Indiana has slipped to eighth place in the standings and are fighting for a playoff spot against the Valkyries (21-18), Storm (22-19) and Sparks (18-20).

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Kristen Wong
KRISTEN WONG

Kristen Wong is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. She has been a sports journalist since 2020. Before joining SI in November 2023, Wong covered four NFL teams as an associate editor with the FanSided NFL Network and worked as a staff writer for the brand’s flagship site. Outside of work, she has dreams of running her own sporty dive bar.

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