Caitlin Clark’s shocking injury absence in Wednesday night’s game between the Indiana Fever and Portland Fire fueled several conspiracy theories online. One of the common speculations among fans was that Clark was suspended for an altercation with assistant coach Briann January during the Fever’s 89-78 win over the Seattle Storm Sunday.
Clark and January had an animated exchange, which likely ended in a disagreement. Clark eventually left the back-and-forth and moved to another seat far from January.
Meanwhile, Fever coach Stephanie White seemed unsure whether Caitlin Clark was injured.
“Her back is sore. So if there’s anything more detailed than that, that’s the training staff,” White told reporters.
White also said the Fever expected her to play, and that’s why she wasn’t on the injury report until the last minute. That was despite Clark not practicing a day prior, sitting out the last eight minutes of Sunday’s fourth quarter against the Storm and frequently taking trips to the locker room during the season opener against the Dallas Wings due to the back ailment.
Some even accused the Fever of manipulating the injury report rules for ticket sales. However, a courtside fan sitting next to Caitlin Clark’s mom on Wednesday debunked narratives around the star’s absence. The TikTok user @mrssalisasi gave her perspective after listening to an interaction between a Fever training staff member and Clark’s mom. She was seated opposite the Fever bench.
“I actually had Caitlin Clark’s mum sit directly next to me,” the fan said. “Her whole family was there, her dad was there, her brother was there, it was a whole bunch of other people. Relatives, it looked like. … But they definitely came to watch her play and the expectation I’m sure was that she was playing.”
“The trainer … came over to Caitlin Clark’s mum. … Her mum said to him, ‘How’s she going?’ and he said, ‘Yeah,’ obviously they tried to speak discreetly next to me, but it was something along the lines of, you know, she pulled up sore today and we tried to see if she was alright but we just made the decision to sit her out.”
Given the fan’s perspective and Clark’s family attending the game, it seems she was a lock to play. She has played through niggles, so the fan claimed there could be more to it, and it could be an actual injury limiting Clark, even if it’s a minor one. The fan also shared pics of Clark from across the Fever bench, in which she seemed frustrated about not being on the floor.
The Fever have been cautious about all their players this season. Aliyah Boston and Lexie Hull have been among those limited, too. Boston was absent for the last game against the Storm, while Hull was on a minute restriction for the first three games.
Stephanie White doesn’t think Fever will get fined for Caitlin Clark injury report controversy
Fever coach Stephanie White doesn’t think Caitlin Clark’s injury report controversy will lead to a fine. According to the rules, teams have to update their final list at 5:00 p.m. local time on game days. They need not rule the players out, but listing them as probable or questionable is the standard procedure.
The Fver didn’t do that for Clark, but White doesn’t think Indiana violated the rules as it was a last-minute issue.
However, given that Caitlin Clark didn’t practice a day before and had the issue since morning, the Fever might get investigated. It remains to be seen if the WNBA will take a closer look at the situation.
