Mickey the Mouth
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- May 21, 2026
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USA TODAY Sports is providing live coverage of the Indiana Fever's matchup against the Golden State Valkyries on Friday. Follow along with us here for highlights and score updates.
Caitlin Clark says it was ultimately her decision to sit out of the Indiana Fever's win over the Portland Fire on Wednesday.
Clark was a late scratch in the Fever's 90-73 victory over the Portland Fire after experiencing stiffness and soreness in her back. The news of Clark's first missed game of the season came shortly ahead of tipoff, raising questions about Clark's health and whether the Fever followed proper protocol in reporting the injury.
"At this point, maybe I'll need to be listed as soreness on every injury report," Clark hit back Friday.
During her pregame media availability on Friday, Clark said that she had "every intention of playing" last game when she woke up on Tuesday. However, back soreness led her to receive treatment "as I've done many practices before." Clark added that she and team personnel "tried to do everything" for her to take the court Wednesday, but she didn't feel "100% confident" and decided to pull 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, which she's suiting up for. "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."
The league 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 then, teams are supposed to immediately inform the league with availability changes in the case that new injuries or illnesses arise. But Clark was not listed on the injury report on Tuesday, even though coach Stephanie White said pregame on Wednesday that Clark missed Tuesday's practice to receive treatment for her back.
The WNBA ultimately issued a warning for failure to properly update Clark’s status ahead of the May 20 game against the Portland Fire, the league confirmed to USA TODAY Sports.
Despite the warning, White doubled down Friday that the Fever "did things the right way."
White previously shot down rumors that the Fever are managing Clark's load after she was limited to 13 games last season with various injuries, but Clark said she opted to sit out Wednesday because it wasn't worth it to play through the soreness.
"Coming back from injury and having three soft tissues or however many soft tissue injuries is a real mental challenge," Clark said on Friday, adding that her recovery journey is not linear. "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."
Contributing: Callie Fin
Reach USA TODAY National Women’s Sports Reporter Cydney Henderson at chenderson@gannett.com and follow her on X at @CydHenderson.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Caitlin Clark explains sitting out Fever game: I didn't 'feel 100%'
Continue reading...
Caitlin Clark says it was ultimately her decision to sit out of the Indiana Fever's win over the Portland Fire on Wednesday.
Clark was a late scratch in the Fever's 90-73 victory over the Portland Fire after experiencing stiffness and soreness in her back. The news of Clark's first missed game of the season came shortly ahead of tipoff, raising questions about Clark's health and whether the Fever followed proper protocol in reporting the injury.
"At this point, maybe I'll need to be listed as soreness on every injury report," Clark hit back Friday.
During her pregame media availability on Friday, Clark said that she had "every intention of playing" last game when she woke up on Tuesday. However, back soreness led her to receive treatment "as I've done many practices before." Clark added that she and team personnel "tried to do everything" for her to take the court Wednesday, but she didn't feel "100% confident" and decided to pull 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, which she's suiting up for. "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."
The league 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 then, teams are supposed to immediately inform the league with availability changes in the case that new injuries or illnesses arise. But Clark was not listed on the injury report on Tuesday, even though coach Stephanie White said pregame on Wednesday that Clark missed Tuesday's practice to receive treatment for her back.
The WNBA ultimately issued a warning for failure to properly update Clark’s status ahead of the May 20 game against the Portland Fire, the league confirmed to USA TODAY Sports.
Despite the warning, White doubled down Friday that the Fever "did things the right way."
White previously shot down rumors that the Fever are managing Clark's load after she was limited to 13 games last season with various injuries, but Clark said she opted to sit out Wednesday because it wasn't worth it to play through the soreness.
"Coming back from injury and having three soft tissues or however many soft tissue injuries is a real mental challenge," Clark said on Friday, adding that her recovery journey is not linear. "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."
Contributing: Callie Fin
Reach USA TODAY National Women’s Sports Reporter Cydney Henderson at chenderson@gannett.com and follow her on X at @CydHenderson.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Caitlin Clark explains sitting out Fever game: I didn't 'feel 100%'
Continue reading...