Indiana Fever needs to do better by Caitlin Clark. Again | Opinion

The Indiana Fever must be getting their medical advice from Dr. Google.

That’s the only explanation that makes sense for how the Fever seem to be botching the health of Caitlin Clark for a second season in a row. A player so durable she never missed a game in four years at Iowa could only make it through the first four games of this season before being sidelined with a bad back.

For those keeping track, that’s 32 games Clark has already missed in her still-young career. And this doesn’t include the breaks she had to take in the season opener to get treatment on her back.

That isn’t normal. And Indiana coach Stephanie White trying to claim it is signals that the Fever didn’t learn a darned thing last year.

"She's healthy, we're not managing anything,” White said after Clark was a late scratch for the Fever’s game against Portland on Wednesday, May 20. “This is just a back issue that we want to make sure we give the time to be ready." 

But White acknowledged that Clark hadn’t practiced on Tuesday, spending that time getting treatment instead. Not that the Fever noted that on the injury report.

"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."  

Clark missed most of 2025 season

There is a disconnect there, just as there was last year, when Clark suffered a series of soft tissue injuries. Despite their protestations to the contrary, it was clear then that Clark was coming back too soon, making her susceptible to additional injuries. The Fever finally shut her down for the remainder of the season in September.

The scenario now feels suspiciously familiar.  

Clark is listed as "probable" on the injury report for Indiana's game against the Golden State Valkyries on Friday night. But how she's feeling and how she's moving is unknown because the Fever canceled practice for Thursday, May 21.

Clark is, no doubt, lobbying the Fever to let her play. She is as competitive as they come, and she’s spoken often of feeling a responsibility to all those people who’ve paid a lot of money to watch her play. The Fever, meanwhile, knows there will be more people in the stands and watching on TV if she’s playing.

But someone has to start being the adult in the Fever’s treatment room and their front office. If they’re not careful, this is going to be another lost season for the franchise.

And for Clark.

If Clark had had a history of back trouble, her leaving the floor twice to get adjusted during the season opener wouldn’t have raised eyebrows. Clark and White both brushed it off, and Clark’s play over the next three games did not raise any additional warning signs.

She went off for 32 points in an overtime loss to the Mystics. She had double-doubles in each of her last two games, and was an assist shy against the Los Angeles Sparks of it being three in a row.

Let Clark get fully healthy

But Clark hasn't had back issues before -- not publicly, at least. That it's bad enough for her to leave the court during the game and, now, sit out practices and games is troubling.

A balky back isn’t a broken finger or a sore rib. This is something that, unless managed properly, can be chronic, especially in a league as physical as the W and for a player who has the ball in her hands on pretty much every possession.

But given last season, there’s no guarantee the Fever can be trusted to manage this injury properly. The time to see how Clark responds, or to take the injury day by day, has ended. The Fever need to sit her until she is fully healthy or risk repeating the nightmare of last season.

No one wants Clark on the bench in street clothes. While she is not the WNBA’s only star, she is its biggest star and there is no question that she is Indiana’s biggest draw. But rushing her back for a game or two if it ends up costing her large chunks of the season is as shortsighted as it is stupid. And the Fever ought to know this by now.

Get Clark healthy. Fully healthy. This is only her third season, which means she has a long and successful career ahead of her.

If the Fever doesn’t break her first.

Follow USA TODAY Sports columnist Nancy Armour on social media @nrarmour.