SAN FRANCISCO — Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark will likely be listed as “probable (back)” on the Fever’s pregame injury reports going forward after the Fever received a warning from the league last week for improper injury reporting, coach Stephanie White said at shootaround on Thursday.
Clark was listed as probable for the Fever’s game Thursday at Golden State at the Chase Center. She participated as normal in the portion of shootaround open to the media that morning.
“I think the most important thing is, while we hope that what happened last week doesn’t happen again, just to make sure that there’s clarity and no issues with league policy, that we will,” White said. “I think you can expect to see it probable going forward.”
The league sent out that warning after Clark went from available on the Fever’s 5 p.m. day-before report to out with a back injury about 100 minutes before the game against Portland on May 20.
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White then said ahead of that Portland game that Clark did not practice on May 19 and woke up with stiffness and soreness in her back on the day of the game, raising questions on why she was not listed on the report, even as probable or questionable, sooner than when the doors opened to Gainbridge Fieldhouse that night. White stressed that Clark was healthy and it was not load management, but that “this is just a back issue that we want to make sure we give the time to be ready.”
Clark was then listed as probable for the Fever’s game against Golden State on Friday, and upgraded to available ahead of the game. When talking to reporters that day, Clark affirmed that she did not practice on May 19 and she woke up with stiffness on May 20, and added that she did everything she could, including home physical therapy and a pregame workout, before determining that she couldn’t play around 5 p.m.
During that availability, Clark quipped that “maybe I’ll need to be listed as soreness on every injury report.”
And it seems like that’ll be the case for the Fever for the foreseeable future.
Clark has been managing back injuries since the beginning of the season, frequently wearing a heat therapy pad on her back and going to the tunnel during games in order to get her back adjusted. Taking care of her back is something she has prioritized this year, especially after suffering multiple soft tissue injuries that limited her to 13 games in 2025.
“I think it’s just been over the course of the last year when I’ve kind of been understanding my body more,” Clark said Tuesday. “I think before before that it was always like, ‘Meh, I’m fine, I’m fine, I’m fine, go play, go play, go play,’ and maybe sometimes I’m a little too hyper aware on certain things, but at the same time, that’s good, like I understand things, and it’s just continuing to work through that, and I think it’s just finding the balance of when I maybe don’t need to be as aware and when I may be a little too over-aware.”
Chloe Peterson is the Indiana Fever beat reporter for IndyStar. Reach her at chloe.peterson@indystar.com or follow her on X at @chloepeterson67. Get IndyStar’s Indiana Fever and Caitlin Clark coverage sent directly to your inbox with our Caitlin Clark Fever newsletter. Subscribe to IndyStar TV: Fever for in-depth analysis, behind-the-scenes coverage and more.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Why Caitlin Clark is likely to remain on Indiana Fever injury report
Reporting by Chloe Peterson, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
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