Aug 1, 2025; Dallas, Texas, USA; Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) during the game between the Dallas Wings and the Indiana Fever at the American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

WNBA Fans Convinced Caitlin Clark Return Coming Amid Fever Guard Release

Originally posted on Indiana Fever on SI | By Grant Young | Last updated Aug 18, 2025 5:29 PM ET

On August 14, the Indiana Fever announced that they were signing Kyra Lambert to a seven-day contract. This news came as a surprise to some, given that Lambert had spent her entire professional career playing overseas after a successful college campaign in the United States.

However, the Fever were extremely depleted at the point guard position after Caitlin Clark, Aari McDonald, and Sydney Colson were all dealing with injuries (both McDonald and Colson will be sidelined for the rest of the season). And so while the choice to sign Lambert specifically still caught fans off guard, Indiana being able to add a guard to a seven-day contract made sense.

However, Lambert's tenure with the Indiana Fever was short-lived, as she didn't even make it the full seven days. On Monday, one day after she had seen less than a minute of action against the Connecticut Sun on August 17, news broke that the Fever released Lambert.

Could Kyra Lambert Release Signal Caitlin Clark's Return?

In the wake of Lambert's signing last week, IndyStar Fever beat reporter Chloe Peterson made an X post noting that if the Fever had only signed veteran guard Odyssey Sims (which came a few days before Lambert's signing), they wouldn't have needed to release Sims once Caitlin Clark returns.

However, once the Fever signed Lambert, it meant that either Sims or Lambert would need to be released once Clark returns.

With this in mind, some women's basketball fans are convinced that Lambert getting released now bodes well for Clark's potential return coming soon.

"my demon is back soon," one X user wrote along with a gif of Clark celebrating, in reply to a post from Underdog WNBA that had announced Lambert's release.

my demon is back soon pic.twitter.com/r8rJQenhVe
— I’ll never forget you Bobby Nash♡⋆*ೃ:. (@caitlinclarks) August 18, 2025

Another fan added, "Caitlin must be coming back sooner than expected. They were only going to be allowed to keep either Odyssey or Kyra, not both."

Caitlin must be coming back sooner than expected. They were only going to be allowed to keep either Odyssey or Kyra, not both.
— Sha Hartley (@shahartley) August 18, 2025

"it's almost time," wrote a third with a video of Clark celebrating on the court.

it's almost time pic.twitter.com/pb6aw6J2G1 https://t.co/VaFeBqkgrV
— correlation (@nosyone4) August 18, 2025

It will be fascinating to see what Lambert's release means for the Fever's roster moving forward. Given that they don't play again until Friday, August 22, there doesn't need to be any announcement about Clark's status for the time being.

However, Stephanie White conveyed earlier this month that the hope was for Clark to return to practice this week so that she'd potentially be ready to return to games by the end of August. And Lambert's release may be the first domino to fall regarding that timeline coming true.

This article first appeared on Indiana Fever on SI and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: