Caitlin Clark was a late scratch (as in less than two hours) for the Indiana Fever's matchup against the Portland Fire on Wednesday. She wasn't on the injury report at all, though she didn't practice on Tuesday. Stephanie White tried to downplay the guard's back injury before the game, but given how the team is handling the situation, fans can't help but think there might be more to worry about than Indiana was willing to let on.
She played a season-low 24 minutes in the Fever's 89-78 win over the Storm on Sunday, finishing with 21 points, 10 assists, 7 rebounds, two blocks, and 5 turnovers.
Rather than practicing two days later in preparation for the game against Portland, Clark underwent back treatment and went through workouts after practice.
You would think that if her back were bothering her (and it clearly was), Indiana would've listed her on the injury report. White downplayed that by saying that the Fever expected the guard to play. The coach said that Clark is "healthy" and that her not playing wasn't Indiana's way of "managing" an injury.
There still would've been concerns about Clark missing a game because of her back, but the Fever's mismanagement of the injury raises even more red flags.
Is there more to Caitlin Clark's back injury than Fever want to let on?
During Indiana's first regular-season matchup against Dallas on May 9, Clark went back to the tunnel twice during the game. After Indiana's 107-104 loss, she revealed that she did so to have her back readjusted (subscription required):
"It gets out of line pretty quickly. It's just that, getting my back put back in place a little bit, but other than that, I feel great."
White said that Clark wouldn't have played 31 minutes against the Wings if the guard's back wasn't okay. Well, here we are, a little over a week later, and she missed a game because of her back issues.
None of this is exactly reassuring! Maybe Indiana is just being cautious, as White said on Wednesday, but the mixed messages make it feel like something is going on behind the scenes. It's never a bad idea to be extra cautious, especially with a star like Clark, but given that it turned into something she had to miss a game over, it doesn't seem that way.
The Fever will host the Golden State Valkyries on Friday, so they must submit their pregame injury report today (Thursday) by 5 p.m. ET. The WNBA could already be looking into how the team handled Clark's absence on Wednesday after she didn't practice the day before, prompting Indiana to put her on the injury report, rather than raising even more questions.
Let's hope that Clark's back issues truly aren't serious and that she'll be back on the court tomorrow night.
Add us as a preferred source on Google