A back injury forced basketball star Caitlin Clark off the court in the third quarter of Indiana Fever's 111-109 defeat to Phoenix Mercury.
Clark appeared to hurt her back in the second quarter when she was fouled by Valériane Ayayi while shooting a 3-pointer. After falling to the ground, the two-time WNBA All-Star was seen rubbing her back as she stood up.
Earlier, an incident saw Alyssa Thomas make contact with Clark's neck after a tussle for possession, with no foul called.
With the score tied 67-67, Indiana head coach Stephanie White called for a timeout, before Clark headed to the locker room and did not return. The team later confirmed a back injury as the reason.
“We have a generational talent and a WNBA superstar who had two cheap shots right there that weren’t called,” White said after the game, according to The Athletic. “And I just say, again, (it’s) absolutely unacceptable.”
"We spent all off-season looking at officiating. And I still say the one thing that we keep asking for is consistency. She is not called the same way everybody else is called," White added, as reported in the BBC.
With 19 points and eight assists, Clark was having a strong game until the issue prompted her to leave with five minutes and 15 seconds remaining in the third quarter.
The point guard - who was listed as "probable" for the game due to back soreness - has struggled with the issue for a while and been listed on the injury report for most of the 2026 WNBA season, and has missed one game due to it.
In 2025, a series of injuries limited Clark to only 13 games.
