Jun 19, 2025; San Francisco, California, USA; Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) reacts during the fourth quarter against the Golden State Valkyries at Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

First Caitlin Clark vs Paige Bueckers WNBA Showdown Gets New Date Due to Injury

Originally posted on Women's Fastbreak on SI
By Grant Young | Last updated Jun 27, 2025 2:30 PM ET

The Indiana Fever and Dallas Wings are playing each other in Dallas' American Airlines Center on June 27.

This matchup has been hyped up ever since April, when the Wings selected former UConn Huskies star guard Paige Bueckers with the No. 1 pick of the 2025 WNBA Draft. The reason for this hype is that the Fever have superstar guard Caitlin Clark, who was the 2024 WNBA Draft's top pick. Therefore, this June 27 game was supposed to mark the first time Clark and Bueckers (who played each other in college and are two of women's basketball's biggest icons) were to meet in the WNBA.

Alas, this showdown was thrown into flux when it was announced on June 26 that Clark was dealing with a groin injury. And on June 27, news broke that Clark would indeed be missing Friday's game against the Wings because her groin isn't healthy enough for her to compete.

Caitlin Clark has been ruled out for tonight in Dallas — a game moved to American Airlines Center.

She's dealing with a left groin injury. It'll be her 7th game missed this season.
— Scott Agness (@ScottAgness) June 27, 2025

Therefore, fans must now wait before seeing Bueckers and Clark on the court together.

The good news is that fans won't have to wait too long, because the Fever and Wings play each other again on July 13 (in Indianapolis), which is only 16 days away from Friday.

Of course, this is assuming that both Clark and Bueckers will be healthy by the time June 13 rolls around, which certainly isn't guaranteed. But given there was a chance Clark was going to be cleared to compete on Friday, this suggests her groin injury should be healed by this point.

In the meantime, fans will be watching Buecker's Wings squad playing a Clark-less Fever team that just lost to the Los Angeles Sparks at home last night.

This article first appeared on Women's Fastbreak on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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