INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark will miss at least two weeks after straining her left quadriceps during Saturday's 90-88 loss to the defending WNBA champion New York Liberty.
Coach Stephanie White told reporters Monday she wasn't sure exactly when Clark was injured but was told after the game she had “something going on with her leg.” An MRI confirmed the diagnosis. Clark's absence could wind up being a big blow for one of the league's title favorites.
“Obviously, she wants to play and, obviously, everyone wants to see her play,” White said following Monday's practice. “But for me, it's about maintaining perspective. It's making sure that we address this that doesn't affect the long term, that we take care of it and don't overpush, don't overexert.”
Clark was not seen with her teammates at the end of practice and was not available for comment. Team officials said additional updates will be provided as circumstances warrant.
It's the first time in Clark's career she's missed a game after playing in all 40 games and both playoff games last season and the first four games this year. She did miss Indiana's first preseason game this year with a leg injury.
Last season's WNBA rookie of the year finished with 18 points and 10 assists Saturday but lost the ball on Indiana's final possession as she tried to take a 3-pointer that could have won the game in the waning seconds.
Afterward, White complained that New York was not called for a foul. Clark is averaging 19.0 points, 9.3 assists and 6.0 rebounds this season as the Fever have opened with a 2-2 mark. Indiana returns to action Wednesday at Washington and Clark is expected to miss that game as well as home contests against Connecticut and Washington and Indiana's rematch at Chicago on June 7 against Clark's rival, Angel Reese.
The league's top drawing player could miss additional time, but the Fever seem more capable of winning without Clark this season after using the offseason to bring in a large group of veteran players with championship experience.
It's unclear just how the Fever will try to replace Clark's play-making ability.
“Sometimes great players don't tell you when they're hurting,” White said. “I'm glad that she did because we need to nip this in the bud.”
Clark set a single-season league record last season with 337 assists after leading the Iowa Hawkeyes to back-to-back national runner-up finishes in college.
AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball
Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) drives on New York Liberty guard Sabrina Ionescu (20) in the second half of a WNBA basketball game in Indianapolis, Saturday, May 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) — Nickolay Mladenov, the man chosen to serve as director-general for U.S. President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace in Gaza, is a Bulgarian politician and former U.N. envoy to the Middle East who frequently worked to ease tensions between Israel and Hamas.
His appointment — announced by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday and confirmed by a U.S. official — makes him the top official in an unproven international body tasked with governing the Gaza Strip under the next phase of a fragile U.S.-brokered ceasefire after two years of war.
According to the ceasefire agreement, the authority — to be chaired by Trump — is supposed to supervise a new technocratic Palestinian government, the disarmament of Hamas, the deployment of an international security force, additional pullbacks of Israeli troops and reconstruction.
The 53-year-old Mladenov has long been involved in Middle Eastern politics with solid expertise in the region’s dynamic developments.
He is a former Bulgarian defense and foreign minister who served as the U.N. envoy to Iraq before being appointed as the U.N. Mideast peace envoy from 2015-2020.
Milen Keremedchiev, a former diplomat and expert on Middle East politics, said Mladenov’s appointment is the result of his significant contributions to peace, adding that he had earned the trust of both Israel and the Palestinians.
“Bulgaria has long been perceived as a moderate country, one that has avoided extremes in this particularly acute conflict,” Keremedchiev said, adding that during his tenure as foreign minister, Mladenov consistently maintained a carefully balanced approach to the Middle East.
“This approach was positively received by both the Arab world and the State of Israel. Bulgaria’s position has traditionally been one of balance, and he was steadfast in preserving that stance,” he told The Associated Press in an interview in Sofia.
Retired Israeli diplomat Alon Bar, who served as the Foreign Ministry’s deputy director-general for the U.N. and international organizations during Mladenov’s tenure, said it was a “distinct pleasure” working with him.
Bar said that serving as a U.N. envoy is a difficult task given Israel’s long history of rocky relations with the world body, but that Mladenov managed to gain Israel's confidence.
“He was able to create a relationship of trust with the political echelon in Israel, including Prime Minister Netanyahu,” he said. “At the same time, there was a lot of confidence he created on the Palestinian side.”
Mladenov served as the top U.N. envoy in Iraq from 2013 to 2015, before then-U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon appointed him as the organization’s top Mideast envoy. During that job, he helped to defuse cross-border violence between Israel and Hamas and keep up the idea of a negotiated solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
In Bulgaria, Mladenov held the position of defense minister for a year, before serving as foreign minister from 2010 to 2013, during the uprisings in the Middle East known as the Arab Spring when Syria also descended into civil war.
In 2012, he hosted in Bulgaria the first-ever meeting of the Syrian opposition, which brought together representatives of various factions that oppose Bashar Assad’s government. The forum ended with a joint declaration that marked the start of a structured dialogue between the various opposition groups.
In the early years of his political career, Mladenov founded the European Institute in Sofia and was its director until 2001. That same year, he was elected a member of the National Assembly on the ticket of the center-right Union of Democratic Forces.
In 2007, Mladenov was elected a member of the European Parliament, where he met his wife, Gergana, the mother of their three children.
As a sign of recognition for his peace efforts in the Middle East, he received in February 2021 the Grand Star of the Order of Jerusalem, awarded by the Palestinian president to officials, envoys, and prominent figures in recognition of their service.
“He knows us, and he knows the Israelis very well, which is a significant advantage,” said Ahmed Majdalani, a Palestinian former minister and member of the PLO Executive Committee. “I believe he is very well-suited for the position."
Currently, Mladenov is based in the United Arab Emirates, where he was appointed to run the Anwar Gargash Diplomatic Academy.
The diplomat holds master’s degrees in War Studies from King’s College London and International Relations from the University of National and World Economy in Sofia.
Bar, the Israeli diplomat, said Mladenov in his diplomacy was focused “not only on declarations and statements, but on trying to connect and trying to find bridges and trying to see where are the places where the positions of Israel, the Palestinians could meet.”
He said these skills would serve him well in his newest position.
“I think it is good news that he’s coming back to this place for this very difficult task,” Bar said. “I think he’s the right man for the job.”
Associated Press writer Josef Federman in Jerusalem contributed reporting.
CORRECTED NAME SPELLING - FILE - United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Nickolay Mladenov leaves after a press conference, in Gaza City, Feb. 17, 2016. (AP Photo/Adel Hana, File)
CORRECTED NAME SPELLING - FILE - United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Nickolay Mladenov attends a press conference at the (UNSCO) offices in Gaza City, Sept. 25, 2017. (AP Photo/Adel Hana, File)
