Caitlin Clark (Credit: Emily Faith Morgan-Imagn Images)
Indiana Fever All-Star guard Caitlin Clark lent one of her assistant coaches a helping hand in her first game on the sidelines.

On Monday, the Fever announced that Clark will miss at least two weeks after suffering a strained left quadriceps in Saturday’s game against the New York Liberty. The Fever played their first game without Clark on Wednesday night, falling 83-77 to the Washington Mystics.

With Caitlin Clark unable to play, she decided to take up babysitting duty for assistant coach Karima Christmas-Kelly. Yahoo Sports’ X/Twitter account shared a video of Clark carrying Christmas-Kelly’s son, Zayn, after arriving at CareFirst Arena:

Christmas-Kelly and her husband, Austin, welcomed Zayn in 2023.

The 35-year-old Christmas-Kelly played in the WNBA from 2011 to 2020, winning a championship with Indiana in 2012. She retired after the 2020 season and was hired by the Fever as an assistant coach in 2023.

Caitlin Clark led the Fever to a dominant 93-58 home win over the Chicago Sky in the season opener on May 17. They split a home-and-home with the Atlanta Dream (the road team won both contests) before losing consecutive games to the Liberty and Mystics.

If the two-week injury timeline is accurate, Clark will hopefully be able to return for Indiana’s June 10 road game against the Atlanta Dream. Indiana will host the Connecticut Sun on Friday before wrapping up their mini two-game homestand vs. Washington next Tuesday.

After that, the Fever will travel to Chicago to visit Angel Reese and company on June 7.

Indiana’s Other Players Must Step Up With Caitlin Clark Sidelined

Caitlin Clark (Photo via Brett Davis-Imagn Images)
The Fever got strong performances from DeWanna Bonner (21 points), Kelsey Mitchell (14 points), and Natasha Howard (11 points) in Wednesday’s loss to the Mystics. But if Indiana is to get above .500 without Clark, the rest of the roster must step up and produce more offense.