Did Fever's Caitlin Clark Decision Violate WNBA Rules on Injury Reports?

Indiana Fever star guard Caitlin Clark missed Wednesday's game against the Portland Fire due to a back injury, but she may have landed in some hot water.

After initially stating that there were "no injuries" in their status report after Tuesday's practice, the Fever waited until 5:20 p.m. ET on Wednesday to rule out Clark ahead of the 7 p.m. tipoff against the Fire. Fever head coach Stephanie White announced that Clark didn't participate in Tuesday's practice after experiencing back stiffness, but the team had not reported it before ruling her out for the game, potentially committing a violation of league rules.

The WNBA later confirmed to ESPN's Alexa Philippou that the Fever received a warning about proper injury report designations:

WNBA rules state, "By 5 p.m. local time the day before a game (other than the second day of a back-to-back), teams must designate a participation status and identify a specific injury, illness, other medical condition, or other reason for any player whose participation in the game may be affected for any reason."

In Clark's absence, the Fever earned a 90-73 win over the Fire to improve to 3-2 this season. Star center Aliyah Boston led the way for Indiana with 24 points and eight rebounds in the victory.

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White noted that holding Clark out of Wednesday's game was "absolutely not" part of any sort of season-long management.

"She's healthy. We're not managing anything," White told reporters. "This is just a back issue that we want to make sure we give the time to be ready."

Clark's next chance to suit up will be on Friday night when the Fever host the Golden State Valkyries (2-1).