Fans from a few WNBA teams are claiming the Indiana Fever would be better off without superstar Caitlin Clark after she sat out her fourth straight game on Thursday night.
Clark missed the game against the Las Vegas Aces with a groin injury, with the Fever not missing a beat, downing one of the league’s best franchises over the last few years 81-54.
Clark also missed Tuesday’s Commissioner’s Cup Final victory, with Indiana handing the Minnesota Lynx only their third loss of the season.
The sophomore phenom has now missed more games for the Fever this season than she has played, as the team is 5-4 without her, and 4-4 with Clark in the lineup.
The former Iowa guard missed five games at the beginning of the WNBA season with a quadriceps injury and has no stated timetable for her return to the court in present day.
Now, some believe Clark being removed from the Indiana rotation has unlocked a higher potential for the team.
Fans from WNBA teams are claiming the Indiana Fever would be better without Caitlin Clark
Clark sat out her fourth straight game on Thursday night while the Fever dominated the Aces
‘Is CCs defense and turnovers holding this team back… they’ve been looking unstoppable lately,’ one fan said.
‘The Indiana Fever are a better team without Caitlin Clark on the floor,’ an Atlanta Dream supporter added.
‘Is it possible we are better without CC? What trade value could we get? 3 1st rounds?’ another person said, trying to think of Clark’s worth on the trading block.
‘At this point the way fever is playing now, they dont really need CC. Cc turns into an added benefit. They are playing exceptional! Really good chemistry and Aari mcdonald is just DYNAMITE,’ a fourth concluded.
A collection of social-media messages from WNBA fans about the Fever without Caitlin Clark
Clark’s next chance to play will be Saturday evening at home against the Los Angeles Sparks. That contest will be two weeks before the WNBA All-Star Game in Indianapolis, where Clark was voted a captain despite her multiple absences.
Clark was named an All-Star Game captain by being one of the two players receiving the most fan votes. Lynx star Napheesa Collier and Clark will now have the opportunity to draft from a pool of the other WNBA All-Stars to create two teams ahead of the festivities.
Clark gets her second All-Star selection in her sophomore professional season, having represented ‘Team WNBA’ in last year’s extravaganza against Team USA before the Paris Olympics.
Clark was the leading fan vote-getter with 1,293,526, with Collier in second place with 1,176,020 votes.
Before Clark’s second multi-game injury absence of the season, her teammates were rallying around her after a few dismal performances.
Despite Clark’s injury-return game against the New York Liberty on June 14, after missing five games, and the scrappy contest against the Connecticut Sun a few days later, the WNBA phenom’s usually sharpshooting touch has been anything but ironclad.
Against the Seattle Storm, Clark was 3-for-13 from the field, including an 0-of-6 mark from 3-point range.
In the Fever’s two previous games before Tuesday night’s victory, Clark combined for a 1-of-17 mark from beyond the arc, an unimaginable two-game line by the lofty standards set by the point guard.
