Caitlin Clark (Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images)
Basketball fans believe that the WNBA referees are to blame for Caitlin Clark’s concerning quad injury that will sideline her indefinitely.

On Monday, the Indiana Fever announced that Caitlin Clark will miss a minimum of two weeks after suffering a left quadriceps strain. If that timeline is accurate, Clark will hopefully be able to return for the club’s June 10 road game against the Atlanta Dream.

Clark suffered the injury during Saturday’s controversial 90-88 home loss to the New York Liberty. Clark appeared to be fouled by Natasha Cloud on the game’s final possession, but the officials called nothing as the Liberty barely escaped with a two-point victory:

After news of Caitlin Clark’s injury emerged, fans pointed the finger at the WNBA officials, citing the amount of physicality opposing defenders have gotten away with:

“Bcoz of poor making decisions of WNBA refs she became the boxing bag of diff players. No foul Calls when its CC. 😏,” a disgruntled fan wrote.

“Man with the way they were playing and defending Caitlin Clark plus the level of physicality the refs were allowing on her, i am not surprised she got injured,” said a user.

“Other teams are bounty-ing her and the refs won’t protect!” another fan said.

“This injury was caused by anti-Clark bias from the refs. No one else gets hacked like that with no fouls called. It was inevitable and, I believe, it was the goal. WNBA wants rid if her,” said a fan.

“she will just get injured again and again as wnba refs keep letting her get hacked far beyond legal basketball play,” wrote a user.

“Way to go WNBA and your freaking lousy Refs. Hope Caitlin Clark heals fast,” a fan wrote.

The WNBA saw a 48 percent increase in attendance for the 2024 season compared to 2023, thanks largely to the highly anticipated arrival of Clark. The league also finished with its highest viewership in 24 years, with multiple Indiana games recording over one million viewers.

So it’ll be interesting to see how the WNBA does in terms of ratings during the games without Clark. If they drop drastically, it just might prompt the league and its officials to do a better job “protecting” Clark, as disgruntled fans want.

Fever Players Must Step Up Caitlin Clark Sidelined

Caitlin Clark (Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images)
The Fever split their first four games despite the all-world play of Clark to begin the season, so it’s imperative for the rest of the team to step up during her absence. Aliyah Boston and Kelsey Mitchell have started out well, so perhaps expanded playing time is in the works with Clark sidelined.