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Caitlin Clark appeared to be back on top of her game after missing most of the 2025 season with injuries.
Clark played for Team USA in the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup qualifying tournament this month and was named MVP on Tuesday.
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Caitlin Clark prepares to take a free throw during the Women’s World Cup qualifying match against Puerto Rico on March 12, 2026 in San Juan. (Alexa Alejandro/FIBA via Getty Images)
The Indiana Fever star, who was making his senior team debut, averaged 11.6 points and 6.4 assists per game as the Americans went a perfect 5-0. The team won matches against Senegal, Puerto Rico, Italy, New Zealand and Spain to complete the tournament.
It’s Clark’s second MVP award on the world stage. She received the honor when she was part of the FIBA U19 Women’s Basketball World Cup in 2021.
Clark has been on a long journey back to the basketball court, having only played in 13 games for the Fever during the 2025 season. She averaged 16.5 points, 8.8 assists and 5 rebounds per game, but an injury just before the All-Star break sidetracked her.
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Caitlin Clark brings the ball up the court during training camp for the U.S. women’s national basketball team on Dec. 12, 2025, in Durham, North Carolina. (AP Photo/Matt Kelley, File)
The sniper guard suffered a groin strain and then a bruise on her ankle bone. The Fever closely monitored her recovery and ultimately ruled her out for the remainder of the regular season.
“I’ve always been a person that’s going to trust my work. I feel like it’s certainly made me work harder,” the 2024 WNBA Rookie of the Year said earlier this month, referencing her injury setbacks.
“But that’s probably also the part that kind of sucked: I felt like I put a lot of time and a lot of energy into last season and then obviously I only appeared in about 13 games.”
Despite worrying about being rusty, Clark scored 17 points in her first game against Senegal. He hit four 3-pointers and that set the stage for what the rest of the tournament would be like.
Indiana Fever’s Caitlin Clark gestures to the crowd during the Connecticut Sun game on July 15, 2025, in Boston. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)
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The FIBA Women’s World Cup will begin on September 4 and run until September 13.
