INDIANAPOLIS — The game was tight. The crowd was tense. The moment was there.
Caitlin Clark was in her element Friday night as she engineered the Indiana Fever’s comeback in the third quarter of an eventual 90-82 victory against the Golden State Valkyries. Her logo 3-pointer, a 3-point play and a backdoor pass to Sophie Cunningham for a layup ignited the Gainbridge Fieldhouse crowd, which was grateful to have its star back on the court.
Clark returned from a one-game absence and recorded game highs of 22 points and 9 assists in 32 minutes, her second-most minutes this season. She had aired frustration before the game about scrutiny and speculation around her back injury. During the game, she was assessed with a technical foul and a flagrant foul, all while she exchanged verbal jabs with the Valkyries and showed displeasure with officiating. In her post-game on-court interview, she thanked Fever fans for booing the referees.
“I think that’s just being a competitor. That’s what’s fun. That’s what I love about it,” Clark told reporters after the game. “And I think that’s what gets the crowd in it, too, and gets my teammates hyped up. There’s times when I can probably find a little bit better of a balance because doing all of that is exhausting, too, but I just love the game. … I love being out there.”
Two days ago, she wasn’t.
Clark was a late scratch Wednesday due to a back injury, marking her first missed game of the season. The Fever cruised past the Portland Fire with Clark sidelined, but Indiana’s lack of transparency regarding her injury led to scrutiny about Clark’s status.
Despite not practicing Tuesday while getting treatment on her back and waking up Wednesday with a sore back, she wasn’t listed on Indiana’s injury report until 100 minutes before tipoff against Portland. The WNBA reviewed the Fever’s injury report behavior and issued a warning for violating the league’s injury report rules. Coach Stephanie White publicly disagreed with the warning, saying the Fever “did things the right way.”
Before Friday’s game, Clark shared the mental toll of returning from an injury-plagued 2025 campaign, in which she played only 13 games.
“Coming back from injury … is a real mental challenge,” she said. “I think everybody expects me to be like this (pointing up). It’s not. It’s like this (pointing up and down). These are the best players in the world, and if I don’t feel 100 percent confident in my body in Game 5 of the year, I don’t know if that’s really worth it.”
Clark’s back issues forced her to leave the Fever’s season opener multiple times to receive treatment before she returned to the court, and she said her back “gets out of line pretty quickly.” She often wears a heating pad on her back when she’s on the bench, which she hadn’t done prior in her career.
“Tuesday, I was here (at Gainbridge Fieldhouse). I got treatment, as I’ve done many practices before. As many of my teammates have done,” Clark said Friday. “I had every intention of playing. Didn’t indicate I wasn’t gonna play. Approached Wednesday, that was the day of our game, as (if) I was 100 percent playing. Woke up (Wednesday), felt a little sore. Texted our training staff, texted my personal physio.”
Clark seemed to take exception with reporters’ questions about her health.
“You want to know what I ate for breakfast, too?” she asked. “So, then I had a filet. I had two eggs over medium. I had potatoes and two blueberry waffles with butter and syrup. … Then I had (physical therapy) at home. Then I came down here about 1 o’clock, and we tried to do everything we can. Got on the court, I lifted, went through a hard workout.”
Clark also took aim at what she characterized as misinformation shared among social media users about the timeline of when she was officially ruled out. The Fever announced her absence via their X account at 5:20 p.m. on Wednesday, 10 minutes before fans could enter Gainbridge Fieldhouse. The WNBA’s official injury report was updated to account for Clark at 5:30 p.m.
“I actually went back and looked because of all of these narratives that are going crazy online about when I told my mom I wasn’t playing in the game, (that was at) 4:47,” Clark said. “You guys found out at 5:20. So, one of the most important people in my life found out 40 minutes before you guys did.”
Most professional sports leagues require some degree of transparency on injury reports, in part, to ensure competitive fairness and the integrity of the game amid sports gambling.
The Fever listed Clark as probable heading into Friday’s game versus Golden State. Clark said she may need to be listed with back soreness “on every injury report” until further notice. But in her return, she didn’t look like a player who, two days ago, was unable to compete.
She shot 7-of-15 from the field, including 4-of-9 from 3, to help the Fever improve to 4-2 with a third straight victory. Aliyah Boston added 20 points and 16 rebounds, while Kelsey Mitchell scored 19 points and made all 11 of her free throws.
Clark’s return to action — and her intensity on the court — stole the show.
Officials tagged Clark and Valkyries guard Janelle Salaün with technical fouls at the end of the second quarter after an exchange under the rim, and teammates and referees had to separate them.
#Fever star Caitlin Clark and #Valkyries forward Janelle Salaun were both given techs for this dustup just before halftime. pic.twitter.com/SMDudLHFB6
— James Boyd (@RomeovilleKid) May 23, 2026
Clark, who finished with five fouls, was also called for a flagrant 1 foul for a hard screen on Veronica Burton in the fourth quarter.
#Fever star Caitlin Clark was assessed a flagrant foul penalty one for this screen on #Valkyries guard Veronica Burton. pic.twitter.com/ekJJpl2wB0
— James Boyd (@RomeovilleKid) May 23, 2026
After the game, she seemed surprised to learn she was given a technical foul and, following her post-game criticism of officiating, she joked that she had “probably a thousand dollars worth of fines coming my way.” This is Clark’s second technical foul of the season, triggering a $500 fine, according to league rules.
“Emotion is a good thing,” White said of Clark’s spirited temperament. “I’m emotional. I’m fiery (as well). And when its channeled in the right way, it benefits. It’s one of the things that makes her special, and you don’t want to take it away from her.”
Caitlin Clark played 32 minutes Friday, her season high for a regulation game. (Trevor Ruszkowski / Imagn Images)
Clark is averaging 23.8 points, a league-high 9 assists and 4.4 rebounds through five games this year. She’s the only player in the league to register two 20-point, 10-assist games.
She said her back will remain an around-the-clock priority in an effort to play as many games as possible this season. But after trying to push through various lower-body injuries last season, Clark has learned to truly listen to her body and give herself more grace.
“It’s something that’s still in the back of my mind of (knowing) I probably pushed myself a little too much at times,” she said of last season. “At the same time, I know how hard I’ve worked on my body that I maybe don’t need to think that way, but that’s just reality for me right now. … But like I said, I feel really confident in myself.”
