The Indiana Fever could face punishment over their handling of Caitlin Clark’s absence.Clark was a late scratch ahead of Wednesday night’s 90-73 win over the Portland Fire.Clark was a late scratch for the Fever’s game against the Fire WednesdayGettyFever head coach Stephanie White informed the media less than two hours before tip-off that Indiana’s superstar guard would miss out because of back soreness.She noted before the game that Clark — who will make an appearance at the Indy 500 this weekend — woke up with stiffness, and when asked later in the evening whether the issue can be characterized as an injury, White said: “Her back is sore.“If there’s anything more detailed than that, that’s (for) the training staff (to address).”White added that she doesn’t expect it to be an ongoing issue, but acknowledged: “I’m not a doctor, so I don’t know.”A lack of clarity over Clark’s status, it seems, could cost Indiana.Fever in potential WNBA rule break over Caitlin Clark injuryWhile White said that Clark simply ‘woke up’ with soreness in her back on gameday, her star player also sat out Tuesday’s practice while receiving treatment, which led to her working out separately after the session.If the 24-year-old was indeed an injury doubt, the Fever should have reported that to the WNBA, and appear to have violated a rule by failing to do so.The rule book reads: “WNBA teams must report information concerning player injuries, illnesses, other medical conditions, or rest for all WNBA games by 5pm 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.“For the second game of a back-to-back, teams must report the above information by 1pm local time on the day of the game.”Indiana could face punishment over their handling of Clark’s absence against PortlandGettyOn this occasion, with Clark’s late absence, the Fever appear to have failed to follow that rule as the team stated there were ‘no injuries’ in a report filed Tuesday.Indiana’s apparent mismanagement of the situation, and Clark’s injury issues on the whole, have led to one prominent voice questioning her future with the Fever.The 2024 Rookie of the Year is coming off an injury-riddled Sophomore season, in which she appeared in only 13 games before being shut down in September.Given she’s now in danger of missing more time, Rachel A. DeMita believes someone on the Fever should be ‘fired’ for how things have been handled.Caitlin Clark’s Fever future called into question by prominent sports media figure“It’s starting to get to the point where I don’t know if Caitlin staying with the Indiana fever makes sense,” DeMita said Wednesday, on her Courtside Club podcast.“I think if this were an NBA franchise, people would be fired by now. This is the face of the league, your star player, who never had injuries.Questions have been raised over Clark’s future with the FeverGetty“People would be fired expeditiously, we’ve seen it happen. Even if it’s not the coach’s fault, even if it’s not the training staff’s fault, somebody has to go down for it.“We just saw Jason Kidd get fired from the Dallas Mavericks because they had a horrible season and they have Cooper Flagg.“They’re not going to waste time when they have a talent like him.“We see this happen so often, people would already be gone and fired, if this continues to happen. We’ll have to wait and see.”Clark is the face of the WNBA and any absence would be a blow to the FeverGettyThe Fever have made a solid start to the 2026 season, and have a 3-2 record heading into Friday night’s game against the Golden State Valkyries.But with issues appearing to arise over Clark’s status once more, Indiana might be forced to make some changes to avoid negative discourse escalating around their star player.The next few days and weeks could be critical for a team that wants to win a WNBA championship, and make Clark a cornerstone of any run.Stay up to date with the WNBA across all our talkSPORT platforms – subscribe to our YouTube channel for the latest news, opinion, exclusive interviews and our daily unfiltered, unscripted show ‘The S* Word, from 8am ET