Caitlin Clark misses game with back issue in Fever injury worry

Caitlin Clark was a late scratch on Wednesday night.

The Fever superstar was ruled out with a back injury a little less than two hours before a matchup with the expansion Portland Fire.

Coach Stephanie White said Clark woke up Wednesday with soreness and stiffness and the team wanted to be cautious, ESPN reported.

Caitlin Clark drives to the basket during the Fever’s win over the Storm on May 17, 2026 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. NBAE via Getty Images

“She’s healthy,” White said, according to the Worldwide Leader. “We’re not managing anything. This is just a back issue that we want to make sure we give the time to be ready.”

The third-year WNBAer told reporters after a season-opening loss to the Wings that her back “gets out of line pretty quickly.” She twice left the bench during the second half to get her back treated.

Clark won the 2024 WNBA Rookie of the Year but was limited to just 13 games last year because of multiple groin injuries and a bruise on her left ankle.

Through her first four games this year, Clark was off to an eye-popping start. The University of Iowa product is averaging 24.3 points and 9.0 assists, both of which would be career highs.

Clark, at the FIBA Women’s World Cup qualifiers in Puerto Rico with Team USA in March, said about the injury-plagued 2025 “stunk” after she had put in all the effort to have a strong sophomore season.

Caitlin Clark looks on during the Fever’s game against the Portland Fire on May 20, 2026 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. NBAE via Getty Images

“I’ve always been a person that’s gonna just rely on my work. I feel like it’s certainly made me work harder. But that’s also probably the part that kind of stunk about it is I felt like I put in so much time and so much energy going into last season, and then obviously only appeared in about 13 games and [for] some of those [I] probably wasn’t as healthy as I probably should have been,” Clark said.

“It was kind of these nagging injuries that continued to build up and build up and dealt with one on top of the other.”

Clark’s already had an eventful season, scoring 32 points — matching her high from 2025 — in a loss to the Mystics on Friday after she received her first technical foul of the year in a victory over the Sparks last Tuesday.