The Indiana Fever are taking a lot of heat for the way the team handled things that led to the late scratch of Caitlin Clark ahead of Wednesday night’s game against the Portland Fire. Now, prominent sports personality Rachel DeMita has gone as far as to suggest that Clark should leave the Fever when she gets the chance.
Less than two hours before Wednesday night’s game, Fever head coach Stephanie White announced that Clark had been ruled out for Wednesday night’s matchup because of soreness in her back. The suddenness of the announcement, combined with the inconsistent messaging from the team, has led to a lot of criticism from fans and the media.
On her podcast on Wednesday, DeMita joined the chorus of criticism directed at the Fever.
Clark’s Injury Situation
In a press conference ahead of Wednesday night’s game, White claimed that Clark simply woke up with soreness, and they did not want to take a chance on her health.
“Just woke up with some stiffness and some soreness,” White said during the press conference, via ESPN. “For us, it’s not the time to take a chance. We just really want to be cautious.”
Although White said that Clark simply “woke up” experiencing soreness in her back, she also revealed that Clark did not participate in Tuesday’s practice, instead receiving treatment on her back. Conflictingly, White insisted that Clark was healthy, while also claiming that the decision had “absolutely not” been related to load management.
“She’s healthy,” White said. “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 inconsistent messaging surrounding her injury led to some strong criticism for White and the Fever, as fans have correctly pointed out that Clark can’t both be healthy and injured at the same time. There’s also a possibility that the Fever could face punishment for what appears to be a violation of the league’s injury reporting policy.
Could Clark Leave the Fever?
During her podcast on Wednesday, DeMita did not hold back as she criticized the Fever for the way they handled Clark’s injury situation. In fact, she called for coaches to be fired and went as far as to question whether or not Clark should even stay with the organization in the long run.
“I don’t know if Caitlin staying with the Indiana Fever makes sense,” DeMita said on the podcast. “I think if this were an NBA franchise, an NBA organization, people would be fired by now.”
“This is the face of the league, your franchise player, your star player who never had injuries. People would be fired by now. People would be fired expeditiously. Even if it’s not the coach’s fault, even if it’s not the training staff’s fault, somebody has to go down for it. That’s what happens literally in every other league. We literally just saw Jason Kidd get fired by the Mavericks because they had a horrible season and they have Cooper Flagg. We see this happen so often,” she continued.
At this point, it’s not clear what’s going to happen, nor is it clear what Clark felt about her late scratch. But it’s clear that this has turned into quite a media firestorm for the Fever early in the season.
The post ‘I don’t know if Caitlin Clark staying with the Indiana Fever makes sense’: Rachel DeMita does not hold back appeared first on The Comeback: Today’s Top Sports Stories & Reactions.