Did the Indiana Fever break WNBA rules with Caitlin Clark late-scratch?
· Yahoo Sports
Caitlin Clark was ruled out at the last minute as she missed her first game of the season, and Indiana Fever coach Stephanie White’s comments about the decision presented more questions than answers.
An hour and a half before the Fever’s 90-73 win over the Portland Fire tipped off on Wednesday, May 20, the Fever announced that Clark would be sidelined with a back injury.
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The WNBA 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 meant to immediately inform the league with status changes in the case that new injuries or illnesses arise.
This year, the WNBA adopted a new game status reporting system that generates real-time injury/illness reports for all 15 teams every 15 minutes and can be viewed by fans.
The league has fined teams for failure to abide by these rules in the past. USA TODAY spoke with multiple sources familiar with the league’s policies. Based on those conversations, it’s reasonable to anticipate that the league will be looking into the circumstances that led to Clark’s absence.
Stephanie White’s comments cause confusion
In her pregame news conference, White said that Clark did not participate in Tuesday’s practice and instead received treatment. White added that the team’s general approach is to wait and see how players’ bodies respond.
"(Clark) just woke up with some stiffness and soreness,” White said. “For us, it's not the time to take a chance. We just really want to be cautious.”
An early report claimed Clark’s absence was "part of a strategic management plan for the season," but White said otherwise.
"No, absolutely not," White said when asked if Clark’s absence was related to injury management. "She's healthy, we're not managing anything. This is just a back issue that we want to make sure we give the time to be ready."
If Clark playing on Wednesday would have put her long-term availability at risk, White has a looser definition of the word “healthy” than most. Outside of that word choice, the choice to keep Clark out certainly sounds like part of a load management strategy. The other reasonable explanation is that Clark is hurt. The confusion from fans is understandable, as White opposed both of those ideas.
Postgame, White was asked multiple follow-up questions about Clark and why her status was not updated sooner.
"Not everybody that doesn’t practice or gets a pro day is on the injury report. That happens all the time,” White said. “She wasn’t listed on the injury report earlier because we expected her to play."
When asked if Clark is hurt, White invited reporters to ask the training staff for more information. This is the second time she’s made that recommendation this season, and the media is not allowed to interview training staff of any team.
"Her back is sore,” White said. “If there’s anything more detailed than that, that’s the training staff."
This back injury is not one of the many ailments that plagued Clark in her limited 2024 campaign. It was made public for the first time after the team’s season-opening loss to the Dallas Wings, when the former Iowa Hawkeye returned to play after she went to the locker room to get her back adjusted
“It's going to be an ongoing thing," White said of Clark’s back at the time. "We wouldn't have played her 30 minutes if she wasn't okay."
Will the Indiana Fever be fined?
White told reporters "no, no,” when asked if she expects the Fever to be fined for failing to provide a prompt update on Clark’s status.
Multiple sources with knowledge of the league’s policies indicated it’s too soon to know whether that’s true. If the league does investigate the matter, the first item of interest is likely to surround Clark’s missing practice on Tuesday.
None of the local media members who cover the Fever reported Clark’s absence from the court that day. This is likely because Clark was present and in practice gear, and teams are only required to make 30 minutes of practice available for media viewing.
If Clark’s back discomfort was significant enough to warrant her missing practice, WNBA media policy experts agree that she should have at least been added to the status report as “probable.”
As Clark's back discomfort continued the next morning, it’s unclear why the team didn’t report that development by the afternoon, but that’s likely what the league will endeavor to find out.
There is no firm guideline for WNBA fines, and experts said they are issued out on a case-by-case basis with a consideration for past offenses taken into account. The league is also not required to announce if it's probing the Fever or if the team is getting penalized.
Teams aren’t punished often for failure to comply with the rules for status reporting.
In one of the most recent examples, the Las Vegas Aces were fined an undisclosed amount for a similar situation, nearly two years ago.
The Aces didn’t report any injuries the day before a game against the New York Liberty on Sept. 8. 2024, leading many to believe that now four-time MVP A’ja Wilson would be available after sustaining a late-game injury against the Connecticut Sun in the previous game. Wilson was later ruled out on game day and arrived at the arena in a medical boot. Aces coach Becky Hammon said postgame that Wilson’s absence was “precautionary,” and the Aces were penalized.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Did the Indiana Fever break WNBA rules with scratch of Caitlin Clark?