Did the Indiana Fever break WNBA rules with Caitlin Clark late-scratch?

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. 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.