The Indiana Fever fans were thirsty for information when it came to Caitlin Clark. The franchise was providing little to no reports on how Clark’s right groin injury was looking like. The one theme that was repeated was that they were taking it slow and prioritizing her “long-term growth”. The fans understood this approach, as Clark had already suffered through multiple setbacks throughout the season. However, they wanted an actual return date that they could look forward to. 

Like Clark’s teammate Sophie Cunningham said, “She doesn’t even know (when she’ll be back). Literally, it’s a day-by-day legit type of thing.” Despite that, the lack of information bothered fans. As they were scouring, some noticed the ESPN injury tracker listed Clark’s return date as August 12 and went with it. They were eagerly waiting for her to suit up against Paige Bueckers’ Dallas Wings, only to find themselves disappointed. Now the tracker has Clark’s return date set as September 2, but this Fever reporter has ripped that system apart in his latest video. 

Fever reporter Scott Agnes said on his YouTube Channel, “I’ll use this opportunity to debunk something that I think erroneously misled Fever and Caitlin fans. There’s this, I became aware of it because of this. There’s this like ESPN injury tracker that was estimating when Caitlin returns that comes from like a third-party data site. It was not from the team. It was not from any of us reporters boots on the ground. We were befuddled.”

The third-party data site in question is RotoWire. If you look closely at that WNBA Injuries tracker page, it is written in the bottom left-hand corner, “Data Provided by Rotowire.” While the page provides sources of actual reports in the comment section of the page, a lot of the time, there is no return date in the reports. This means the system generates estimates using various factors through computer algorithms.

However, these computer-generated reports are often proven wrong, as in Clark’s case, because they lack knowledge of the actual situation with the player, her medical reports, management’s feelings, or how they intend to approach her recovery. There are factors beyond just data affecting that return date. Agness further appealed to the fans not to completely trust the tracker. 

He further said, “Ignore all that because there was nothing legitimate about that. Nothing changed. Um, nothing was altered. Nothing happened to push back anything. That was just erroneous. So, ignore all that. Don’t use that as guidance whatsoever. I think that misled people in this conversation.”

It’s better to face uncertainty than to be misled by false information. Clark’s condition and the actual reports around her have been consistent. Her ‘weird’ injury means she can’t have a proper return date until she actually starts practicing. “Until she can get into practice, and until you guys see her in practice, it’s really status quo, same as we have been,” White said. On top of her right groin injury, Clark is also nursing an unfortunate minor bone bruise in her ankle, making things more complicated. 

Caitlin Clark’s New Injury Threatens to Complicate the Situation

The reports explicitly mention that Clark’s bone bruise does not affect her right groin injury. Clark suffered a bone bruise while doing an individual workout in Phoenix on August 7, the same day Sydney Colson and Aari McDonald suffered their season-ending injuries. And Clark has been pretty casual when it comes to ankle tweaks in her rookie year. 

She had an ankle injury against the Connecticut Sun last year and was helped to the locker room. She swiftly bounced back to the bench and then ignited the second half, racking up 17 points and five assists. “Every basketball player has an ankle injury,” Clark said then. “If you don’t, you’re not a true baller. It’ll be stiff, but I’ll be good.” However, the situation is very different this year. 

A bone bruise is pretty tricky to look at, as it typically will only be recognized on an MRI. Which means she could have gotten this minor injury even before August 7, and only caused enough pain on that day to check on an MRI. Considering Clark’s attitude towards the injury, she could have ignored some pain in her ankle for weeks until it became unbearable. “You’re not a true basketball player if you haven’t sprained your ankles a bunch.” She said last year. 

In addition to that, if you go in too early and put more pressure on the bruise before time, there is a threat of a fracture. It all depends on the extent which Clark’s bone bruise, but considering the trends with Clark’s injuries this season, this gives the management more reasons to rest her and give her more time for recovery. The Fever have been incredibly unlucky with injuries this season and don’t want a completely different injury to affect the long-term future of their star. However, they are still holding out hope that she will return this year. However, with the way the winds are blowing, it’s becoming increasingly likely that she will sit out for this season.