Is Caitlin Clark's Absence Due to Injury

Life without Caitlin Clark has begun for the Indiana Fever, and it began with the team's worst loss so far this WNBA season.

The Indiana Fever announced on Monday that Clark would miss two weeks of action due to a quad injury. That news reverberated around the WNBA. USA Today reports that ticket prices for the four games that Clark is scheduled to miss have plummeted on the secondary ticket market. That includes the highly anticipated matchup with the Chicago Sky on June 7th, a game that was moved to the United Center due to ticket demand. USA Today reports that prices for the Sky-Fever matchup have fallen 300% over the last two days.

How Badly is Caitlin Clark Injured?

Normally, I would never question whether or not a player is hurt. And while I do believe that Clark is suffering from an injury, some interesting video surfaced online that made many call the severity of her injury into question. A day before leaving for a road game in Washington, D.C., the Fever held a practice, and members of the media noticed a certain 'injured' star being pretty active.

Fever players even had to come over and tell Clark to take it easy. Is it just Caitlin's competitive streak, or is the injury not as bad as the team wants us all to believe?

Why Would the Fever Exaggerate Caitlin Clark's Injury?

Respect. New Fever head coach Stephanie White doesn't believe that Clark is getting enough calls from the refs and that the Fever as a whole simply aren't getting enough calls. White had this to say after the Fever dropped a close game to the New York Liberty.

MSN also noted that the Fever have a -31 free-throw discrepancy during their first three games of the season.

I don't tend to buy into conspiracy theories. But several online prognosticators have surmised that perhaps the Fever are showing the rest of the league what life would be like without Caitlin Clark. Fewer tickets sold. Lower television ratings. Let the league suffer for two weeks, and then, when Clark is cleared to return, see if Caitlin gets a little more of the respect that she has earned.

Is it possible the Fever are behind this conspiracy theory? Or have I fallen down the wrong rabbit hole?

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