Sue Bird Reveals the ‘Hardest Part’ Ahead for Caitlin Clark’s Comeback

WNBA icon Sue Bird addressed the biggest hurdle Caitlin Clark faces as she works back to perfect basketball shape.

Sep 14, 2025; College Park, Georgia, USA; Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) walks to the locker room against the Atlanta Dream at halftime during game one of round one for the 2025 WNBA Playoffs at Gateway Center Arena at College Park. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images | Brett Davis-Imagn Images

The biggest reason why Indiana Fever fans were looking forward to December 12 was that they knew it was when superstar guard Caitlin Clark would be back on the basketball court and in front of cameras, as it was announced last month that she'd be taking part in the Team USA National Team training camp this weekend in Durham, North Carolina.

And fans got what they were looking for with several photos and videos of Clark back on the practice court on Friday, December 12. However, a big part of the fan intrigue surrounding Clark's return was how she would look when competing with and against many of the league's best women's basketball players after not having done so for almost five full months.

While Clark has surely been putting in the work during that time, the vast majority of that work has been spent in the training room, trying to get her body back to full health so she could perform up to her capabilities when her inevitable return arrived.

Sep 7, 2025; Baltimore, MD, USA; Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) looks on from the bench against the Washington Mystics during the first quarter at CFG Bank Arena. Mandatory Credit: Rafael Suanes-Imagn Images | Rafael Suanes-Imagn Images

Sue Bird Speaks on Caitlin Clark's Return to the Court

While Clark did say she was back to 100% health during her appearance at The Annika golf Pro-Am last month, the women's basketball community wanted to see it for themselves and if anything was missing from No. 22's typical performance on the court.

WNBA legend and Team USA managing director Sue Bird addressed this when speaking with ESPN insider Alexa Philippou on December 12.

"I thought she looked great, right? I mean, here's a player that didn't get to play this summer. All in, she didn't get to play a lot of basketball, really, in the last year-plus. So for this to be the first day back, she looked great," Bird said of Clark, per an X post from Philippou.

"The things that are going to be hard is always the conditioning part. It's really hard to get in basketball shape without playing basketball. So I'm sure that's gonna come as the camp comes. But she looks great regardless, outside of that. And the other thing is rhythm. You've got to find your rhythm. And I'm sure everybody saw that one step-back in transition she had, so the rhythm looks great," Bird continued.

"But more than anything, you want her, you want all these players, to just be around each other, off the court, on the court," she concluded.

Here's what USA Women's National Team managing director Sue Bird had to say after the first day of USA Basketball training camp: pic.twitter.com/B8RagXEIdd

— Alexa Philippou (@alexaphilippou) December 12, 2025

The good news is that Clark's conditioning is only going to improve as this Team USA training camp continues.