“We have seen far too many contact injuries this season. And I also tweeted this last night, and I’m also going to stand by this. I said Cathy needs to say something publicly after this,” said Rachel A. DeMita. For the renowned WNBA analyst, there was a direct correlation between the injuries and the physicality being allowed by the WNBA referees during games. A prime example of this was when Alyssa Thomas caused Napheesa Collier to sustain a major injury when the former attempted to swipe the ball from the latter and appeared to have made incidental contact with Collier’s knee. In light of this, DeMita urged the league to moderate physical play, warning of potential repeat incidents at the worst possible time. 

Rachel A. DeMita, in her recent episode of the ‘Courtside Club’ show, highlighted that the spotlight is on the referees too much at the moment. After all, over the last few months, the criticism against them has only increased. However, DeMita defended them, saying, “sometimes with the referees on the court, I sometimes don’t even blame them wholeheartedly because I think it does go back to the training and the kind of preparedness that they have, the rule books that they are going off of.”

Now, even though the refs are simply following the rules and instructions handed out by the WNBA front office, they are the face of officiating and thereby carry the ultimate responsibility and blame. Therefore, DeMita wants them to bring at least some changes.

“So I think that they know they need to keep the game clean. They need to make sure it doesn’t get too physical,” said DeMita. “The WNBA cannot afford any more injuries. We have seen too many superstars now. We’ve seen Kelsey go down. We’ve seen Napheesa go down. Caitlin went down this year. In the last two MVP candidates, in Aj’a Wilson and Alyssa Thomas, please keep the players safe. That’s what we want to see.”

Caitlin Clark suffered a plethora of injuries during the 2025 season. She missed the Fever’s first preseason game with lower leg tightness. Clark made it just through four games in the regular season before a left quad strain knocked her out of the lineup for five contests. She returned for 5 more games before she went down with a groin injury, and was absent from the next 4 matchups.

She was back in the lineup for 4 more games before suffering another groin injury against the Connecticut Sun, as just one more game remained on the schedule before the All-Star Weekend. Her troubles with the groin continued, and on September 4th, Clark was declared out for the rest of the regular season.

An interesting fact is that, before the 2025 WNBA season, Caitlin Clark hadn’t sustained an injury since she was in high school! She did not miss a single game during her 4-year tenure with the Iowa Hawkeyes, and the same goes for her WNBA rookie season, too. According to Yahoo! Sports reporter Cassandra Negley, this rise in ailments can be attributed to the defensive intensity she saw during the matchups.

“The league is known for its physicality, though it’s bordered on the cusp of poor officiating, to the claims of players and coaches alike this season. White called it out earlier in the year after a dust-up with the Sun resulted in ejections,” Negley wrote. “After Sunday’s Fever win over the Wings, video of commentators calling out the four uncalled fouls on Clark in one early play made the rounds this week. The same ESPN broadcast reported that rookie Paige Bueckers said she had to learn how to defend while fouling — different than her coaching at UConn — because players get away with it.”

Indiana Fever’s Stephanie White agreed that the physicality of the games played a role in Clark’s injury. After all, as White highlighted, “It causes you to load differently. Causes you to explode differently. It causes you to accelerate and decelerate differently.”

What happened to Caitlin Clark cannot be reversed now. Injuries can only be healed with patience and time. However, for the WNBA Finals, it must be ensured that players like Alyssa Thomas and A’ja Wilson don’t end up risking their health, or that of others. Clark would wish the same. After all, she doesn’t want those star players to go through what she did.

Caitlin Clark Described Harrowing Experience With Injuries

Due to her injury troubles, Caitlin Clark couldn’t participate in the WNBA All-Star Game. However, she did sit down for an interview with Glamour. The interview highlighted that, as a top WNBA player, she has access to treatments like red-light therapy, dry needling, and hyperbaric oxygen chambers, which she utilized. Beyond the physical, Clark spoke honestly about the importance of caring for her mental health, reminding us that neglecting it can make even the strongest feel vulnerable to unwanted thoughts.

“This is the first time I haven’t felt like a young body that can run around and sprint every day and just continue to do that,” said Clark. “Being a professional athlete, you really have to take care of both your body and your mind—it’s been a journey learning about that.”

When Clark was injured in the final minute of that game against the Sun, she got so emotional that she walked to the other end of the court and banged her head against the stanchion. When discussing the incident with reporters, the young star said, “I think I could have done a better job keeping my emotions in check, but at the same time, like, really? It is a rule, so they have to call it, I get it.”

The Indiana Fever has a sports psychologist on staff. Clark spoke to her sometimes, “multiple times a week, to not only talk about basketball but other things in life”. All to get herself emotionally back after and during the injury recovery process.

Over the course of her 7-year career, A’ja Wilson has dealt with her fair share of injuries as well. One of the most recent ones was a right wrist sprain sustained in July 2025. Alyssa Thomas shares an injury history, too. However, the quest to win the Finals should not be so strong that it puts them back on the Injury Report.