WNBA warns the Fever for failing to report Caitlin Clark’s injury on time

NEW YORK (AP) — A day after Caitlin Clark was a late scratch because of a back injury, the Indiana Fever received a warning from the WNBA for not reporting the injury sooner, the league confirmed to The Associated Press on Thursday night.

Clark missed Wednesday’s 90-73 victory over Portland.

The Fever disclosed Clark’s injury less than two hours before tipoff. She had not been listed on Indiana’s injury report a day earlier when she didn’t practice. The WNBA requires teams to list players who are injured on a report by 5 p.m. the night before the game is played. If a player’s status changes overnight or early in the day the team is supposed to update the injury report.

Neither of those happened for Wednesday’s game.

Clark was listed as probable to play on Friday in the Fever’s home game against Golden State on Thursday’s injury report.

The star guard had not missed a game this season after her 2025 campaign was cut short by a series of injuries. Clark is averaging 24.3 points, nine assists, five rebounds and one steal in four games.

Clark has spoken this season about lingering back issues. After the Fever’s season-opening loss, she said her back “gets out of line pretty quickly.”

She played 24 minutes Sunday in Indiana’s win over Seattle, finishing with 21 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds.

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AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball

Doug Feinberg, The Associated Press