Caitlin Clark says she sat out Indiana’s win over the Portland Fire because she didn’t feel “100%” confident in her back during Wednesday’s game week, and she argued the Fever should have listed her status as soreness. The WNBA issued a warning for the way her
Caitlin Clark didn’t miss Indiana Fever practice on Tuesday without telling people—she says she made the call and even gave a specific time when she told her mother she wasn’t going to play.
On Friday. as Clark suited up for the Fever’s matchup against the Golden State Valkyries. she explained why she was a late scratch in Indiana’s 90-73 victory over the Portland Fire on Wednesday. Clark said she didn’t feel “100% confident” once she received treatment for stiffness and soreness in her back. and that she ultimately pulled herself from the lineup.
“I actually went back and looked because of all these narratives that are going crazy online. ” Clark told media ahead of Friday’s game against the Golden State Valkyries. “I told my mom I wasn’t going to play (on Wednesday) at 4:47 p.m. You guys found out at 5:20. So one of the most important people in my life found out 40 minutes before you guys.”.
Clark’s comment landed amid scrutiny that came quickly after her first missed game of the season. She said the plan had been to play when she woke up on Tuesday—she had “every intention of playing” the previous game—before her back soreness led her to receive treatment “as I’ve done many practices before.”.
“At this point, maybe I’ll need to be listed as soreness on every injury report,” Clark added Friday.
The question now is less whether Clark felt something—she described it clearly—but how her status was communicated in the days leading up to Wednesday’s game.
Clark said she and Fever personnel “tried to do everything” to get her on the court for the Portland game, but she didn’t feel safe enough to go. She described coming back from soft tissue injuries as a mental challenge, and said her recovery has never been a straight line.
“Coming back from injury and having three soft tissues or however many soft tissue injuries is a real mental challenge. ” Clark said on Friday. “If I don’t feel a hundred percent confident in my body on game five of the year. I don’t know if that’s really worth it in that scenario. I want to play every single game. I want to play 44 games in season. I’m doing everything I can to do that. I putting my body in my best position I can to and I feel really good and really confident in my body. But there’s moments where I still struggle a little bit and I get in my head and things like that and I’m sore. That’s just the reality of it.”.
Behind the scenes, the WNBA moved. The league issued a warning for the Fever’s failure to properly update Clark’s status ahead of the May 20 game against the Portland Fire, according to confirmation from the league.
The league’s policy requires teams to submit injury reports the day before a game by 5 p.m. in the time zone of the contest’s location. From there, teams are expected to immediately inform the league if new injuries or illnesses arise and if availability changes.
Even with coach Stephanie White saying pregame on Wednesday that Clark missed Tuesday’s practice to receive treatment for her back. Clark was not listed on the injury report on Tuesday. And by game time. Clark’s absence became part of the immediate pre-tip narrative—her late scratch came shortly ahead of tipoff.
White, for her part, denied that the Fever handled the situation incorrectly. On Friday, she doubled down that the Fever “did things the right way.”
Clark, though, framed her decision as a matter of certainty. She said she attempted to get ready, including treatment, but ultimately decided that if she couldn’t feel “100% confident” in her body, it wasn’t worth it—especially early in the season.
The sequence has left Fever fans with a familiar dilemma: when an injury report is built around timing, what counts as the truth—how a player feels when the day’s list is due, or how the body feels minutes before tipoff?
For now. Clark is back on the floor after sitting out Indiana’s Wednesday win. and the league warning ensures the conversation about injury reporting and availability updates isn’t likely to fade. The immediate tension has shifted from whether Clark had back stiffness and soreness to how the league expects that information to travel. and how quickly it must be corrected when a plan changes.
Caitlin Clark Indiana Fever WNBA warning injury report Portland Fire Golden State Valkyries Stephanie White back soreness
If she wasn’t 100% then yeah sit her. But the timing drama is kinda weird.
So she told her mom at 4:47 but people found out at 5:20…? That seems like nothing lol. WNBA warnings are getting ridiculous.
Wait I thought she was injured like fully, not just stiff? Also “Caitlin Clark should’ve listed her as soreness” like what, that’s a whole different injury category? Sounds like PR rules not health.
The part about “all these narratives going crazy online” makes me feel like they already knew she was gonna miss but didn’t want to say it. Back soreness is always the excuse. If she’s gonna sit, just be honest earlier not 40 minutes before the world.