Fever say Caitlin Clark will be ready to play in showdown with Liberty on Saturday

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Caitlin Clark ended practice Friday by making a halfcourt shot and winning a little bit of lunch money in the process.

And with that, the Indiana Fever star is ready to play again.

Clark — barring any unforeseen setbacks — is expected to be in the lineup when the Fever play host to the reigning WNBA champion New York Liberty on Saturday afternoon. She missed the last five Indiana games with a quadriceps injury.

“As long as we don’t have any regressions, she’s going to be ready to roll,” Fever coach Stephanie White said.

Clark returned to practice this week, and her comeback game just happens to be a nationally televised one against the Liberty — the defending champs and, at 9-0, the last unbeaten team left in the league this season. New York is winning its games by an average of 19 points.

“I’m really excited," Clark said. “I think it’s definitely been a process. I think the hardest part is when you like begin to feel really good and then it’s just a process of working yourself back into actually getting up and down and getting out there with my teammates.”

The halfcourt shot at the end of practice was the kicker of a friendly competition, and Clark (who says she rarely wins the halfcourt contests) did wave a few dollars that she won around afterward — in case anyone needed a reminder of her shooting range.

The Fever (4-5) went 2-3 in Clark’s absence. She was averaging 19 points, 9.3 assists, six rebounds and 1.3 steals per game when she got hurt. There's still a long way to go this season, but no player in WNBA history has ever finished a season averaging that many points, assists, rebounds and steals per game.

Clark freely acknowledges that she’s not a patient person, but she understood the process and why it was important to not skip any steps in her recovery. Among the treatments: “anything under the sun,” she said, including everything from massage to weights to hyperbaric therapy.

“It was certainly a learning opportunity, and I think it’s going to benefit me a lot throughout my career, just falling back and understanding certain moments like this,” Clark said. “But I’m super, super excited. I’m antsy to get out there and probably shake off a little bit of rust and then play.”

Clark's return is the latest bit of big basketball news in Indianapolis, along with the Indiana Pacers going into Friday’s Game 4 of the NBA Finals leading the Oklahoma City Thunder 2-1. Clark and many other Fever players were at Game 3 on Wednesday night at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, the same court where they’ll be taking on the Liberty on Saturday.

Even though Clark and the Fever have an early game Saturday, some — Clark included — plan on at least seeing some of Game 4 on Friday night.

“It’s incredible. It’s incredible,” White said when asked about the energy around basketball in Indianapolis right now. “As someone who grew up in the state of Indiana and as the saying goes, ‘This is Indiana.’ And so, the energy’s incredible. It’s such a fun time to be in the city."

The Fever are also expected to have guard Sophie Cunningham (ankle) back for the game against the Liberty on Saturday. Cunningham has averaged 6.5 points in four games so far this season.

“It’s really reintegrating two of our top six players, right? Reintegrating them back into the system," White said. “Some of the things that we run will look different than without Caitlin on the floor, certainly. Sophie's versatility and being able to play in multiple positions ... it is like starting Day 1 again.”

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Caitlin Clark, center, waves from her seat during the first half of Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals of the NBA basketball playoffs between the New York Knicks and the Indiana Pacers in Indianapolis, Saturday, May 31, 2025. (AP Photo/AJ Mast)

Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark, right, and guard Sophie Cunningham celebrates on the bench in the first half of a WNBA basketball game against the Washington Mystics in Indianapolis, Tuesday, June 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

Indian Fever basketball players Caitlin Clark, right, and Aliyah Boston watch during the first half of Game 3 of the NBA Finals basketball series between the Indiana Pacers and the Oklahoma City Thunder, Wednesday, June 11, 2025, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — Richard “Dick” Codey, a former acting governor of New Jersey and the longest serving legislator in the state's history, died Sunday. He was 79.

Codey’s wife, Mary Jo Codey, confirmed her husband’s death to The Associated Press.

“Gov. Richard J. Codey passed away peacefully this morning at home, surrounded by family, after a brief illness,” Codey's family wrote in a Facebook post on Codey's official page.

"Our family has lost a beloved husband, father and grandfather -- and New Jersey lost a remarkable public servant who touched the lives of all who knew him," the family said.

Known for his feisty, regular-guy persona, Codey was a staunch advocate of mental health awareness and care issues. The Democrat also championed legislation to ban smoking from indoor areas and sought more money for stem cell research.

Codey, the son of a northern New Jersey funeral home owner, entered the state Assembly in 1974 and served there until he was elected to the state Senate in 1982. He served as Senate president from 2002 to 2010.

Codey first served as acting governor for a brief time in 2002, after Christine Todd Whitman’s resignation to join President George W. Bush’s administration. He held the post again for 14 months after Gov. Jim McGreevey resigned in 2004.

At that time, New Jersey law mandated that the Senate president assume the governor’s role if a vacancy occurred, and that person would serve until the next election.

Codey routinely drew strong praise from residents in polls, and he gave serious consideration to seeking the Democratic nomination for governor in 2005. But he ultimately chose not to run when party leaders opted to back wealthy Wall Street executive Jon Corzine, who went on to win the office.

Codey would again become acting governor after Corzine was incapacitated in April 2007 due to serious injuries he suffered in a car accident. He held the post for nearly a month before Corzine resumed his duties.

After leaving the governor’s office, Codey returned to the Senate and also published a memoir that detailed his decades of public service, along with stories about his personal and family life.

“He lived his life with humility, compassion and a deep sense of responsibility to others,” his family wrote. “He made friends as easily with Presidents as he did with strangers in all-night diners.”

Codey and his wife often spoke candidly about her past struggles with postpartum depression, and that led to controversy in early 2005, when a talk radio host jokingly criticized Mary Jo and her mental health on the air.

Codey, who was at the radio station for something else, confronted the host and said he told him that he wished he could “take him outside.” But the host claimed Codey actually threatened to “take him out,” which Codey denied.

His wife told The Associated Press that Codey was willing to support her speaking out about postpartum depression, even if it cost him elected office.

“He was a really, really good guy,” Mary Jo Codey said. “He said, ‘If you want to do it, I don’t care if I get elected again.’”

Jack Brook contributed reporting from New Orleans.

FILE - New Jersey State Sen. and former Democratic Gov. Richard Codey is seen before New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy delivers his State of the State address to a joint session of the Legislature at the statehouse, in Trenton, N.J., Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)