Caitlin Clark out for Fever vs Sparks with back injury, takes hits against Mercury

INDIANAPOLIS – Indiana Fever star guard Caitlin Clark won't play tonight as the Indiana Fever host the Los Angeles Sparks. She's out with a back injury.

Clark left the Fever's prior outing, a loss against the Phoenix Mercury, with her back injury during the third quarter. She took multiple hits during the game and has been dealing with a back issue throughout the season.

On opening night, Clark exited the Fever's battle with the Dallas Wings on multiple occasions to have her back adjusted, though she was able to stay in the game. In mid-May, she missed a game against the Portland Fire after being a late scratch due to her back. Now, she'll miss her second game of 2026.

Circle City Spin

The Indiana Pacers and Indiana Fever, up close

Circle City SpinTony East

"She's ok. She's going to be out on Saturday, but she's doing alright," head coach Stephanie White said before the Fever practiced on Friday morning.

After the Fever host the Sparks tonight, they don't play another game until July 5. Every team in the league is off the coming Monday through Wednesday due to the Commissioner's Cup title game (except for New York and Las Vegas, naturally), and the Fever just so happen to not be scheduled to play again until next Sunday.

That gap, combined with Clark's absence tonight, means the star guard will have 10 days between games to recover. That's good news for her, given that she's been listed as probable for over a dozen consecutive games. She'll have a chance to heal before a tougher July schedule with a few road trips.

"It's a good time because we have all week next week, so we'll take this opportunity just to get her treatment, get her healthy, get her back on the floor, and see what happens," White said. "It's the same thing, long-term health and wellness is the most important thing."

White reiterated that after a player goes through a lengthy absence from injury, there will be ups and downs upon return. Clark missed 29 games, plus the entire postseason, in 2025. The Fever want her 100% ready to go when she's on the court playing.

The Mercury play a physical style. It's unknown if one specific play aggravated Clark's back, and she wasn't visible during the portion of Indiana's practice open to the media on Friday.

Clark took two now-viral hits vs Phoenix that generated a ton of discussion this week. You can find that commentary online anywhere, this story is just a reporting of the facts. A throat punch and a landing-space three, specifically, entered the spotlight.

Alyssa Thomas suspended, foul upgraded

Clark drove to the basket with about 6:55 on the clock in the second quarter of Wednesday's Fever-Mercury tilt. Three seconds later, she stumbled on that drive and hit the deck, kicking the ball out to a nearby teammate.

There was an instant that the ball was loose as Clark fell, so other players dove on the floor in an attempt to get a steal. At that moment, with Clark on the ground, Mercury star Alyssa Thomas hit Clark in the neck with a closed fist.

No foul was called during the sequence, then Aliyah Boston missed a three-point shot to end the possession. White was alerted to the neck contact at halftime and informed the officials. Clark continued to play into the second half.

Postgame, White was fuming. "It was egregious... it was a no call," she said. "Number one, you've gotta call it. It's absolutely egregious and utterly disrespectful. And then number two, you're coming in here aware of what happened two nights ago, and that shit still happens? Absolutely unacceptable." Monday, there were several technical fouls in a chippy fourth quarter between the same two teams.

The WNBA reviewed the play later and agreed that something was missed and should have been done. On Thursday, Thomas was given a, "Flagrant Foul 2 penalty and a one-game suspension for recklessly making contact with her fist to the throat area of Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark."

Thomas will serve the suspension tonight with Phoenix in Toronto to face the Tempo.

"Player safety should be paramount in our league. We appreciate the WNBA's review of last night's incident and the action taken. Right now our focus is on Caitlin and our entire team as we prepare for Saturday," Fever team President Kelly Krauskopf said in a statement.

Friday, White was thankful that the league did their due diligence on the play postgame. "The biggest thing for me is that we have to see it in real time," she said. "Yes, I'm thankful that the league went back and used their ability to go back and review it. But these are things that we can't miss in real time. We've got to be better. I think I'm pretty consistent in messaging that we need consistency."

Stephanie White blasts officiating

I asked White about the fist-to-neck play on Wednesday. After she shared her above comments, the Fever's head coach went on to blast the officials during her roughly 90-second answer.

"We have a generational talent and a WNBA superstar who had two cheap shots right there that weren't called," White said. "I just say, again, absolutely unacceptable."

Another big moment that angered White came with 6:25 on the clock in the third quarter. Clark was fouled by Valeriane Ayayi while taking a three-point shot, and the officials went to the monitor to look at the play.

It's not clear what was specifically reviewed since Clark's arms, thanks to her hump shot form, ended up making contact with Ayayi's face. But no foul was upgraded on the play even as Clark landed right on top of Ayayi. That, too, upset White.

"The reckless closeout that they actually reviewed? And the foot still comes down on top of the defender's foot, that wasn't upgraded? Absolutely disrespectful," she said of that play. James Boyd of The Athletic followed up with a specific question about Clark's whistle.

"We spent all offseason looking at officiating," White noted. "The one thing that we keep asking for is consistency. She is not called the same way everybody else is called."

On Friday, White said that she hasn't heard from the league about any of her comments. She had no idea at that time if she'd be fined. "We need to continue to hammer home that messaging," White said of officiating consistency. "It's obviously one of the concerns of every coach in this league."

Fever vs Sparks is tonight at 8 p.m. ET.

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