“A pause from the animosity was what she required” – Skip Bayless posits a theory concerning Caitlin Clark’s prolonged absence due to injury, as initially featured on Basketball Network.
The upcoming Saturday night matchup in Indianapolis between the Indiana Fever and the Chicago Sky will mark the second consecutive game absent of both college adversaries Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese. Although Reese will be missing her fifth game in a row, Clark’s absence will extend to twice that, as she sits out her 10th straight contest.
Overall, Caitlin has been absent from 18 of the Fever’s 31 games played this season. Initially, she sat out five games due to a quad injury, but since then, Clark has been managing groin complications, resulting in an on-and-off playing status. Her latest setback occurred on July 15 against the Connecticut Sun, and she has not returned to the court since. Veteran sports commentator Skip Bayless believes there may be more to this extended absence than is immediately apparent.
“The narrative surrounding Caitlin Clark grows more and more peculiar,” Bayless remarked. “I’m genuinely finding Caitlin’s sophomore season to be inexplicably perplexing. Consider this: She participated in 185 consecutive games throughout her collegiate and rookie WNBA seasons, 185 straight without missing a single one due to injury. And now, this season, she has missed games on four separate instances due to various leg strains…and there’s currently no estimated return date for this groin issue.”
She was an “Iron Woman”
As Skip highlighted, Caitlin’s resilience was a notable attribute when she joined the WNBA. Clark competed in all 139 possible games with the Iowa Hawkeyes in the NCAA. She affirmed this in the professional arena by playing all of her initial 46 games with the Fever.
Earlier in the season, the Fever disclosed that Clark had sustained a quad injury, leading to a two-week period on the sidelines. Consequently, on May 28, her “Iron Woman” streak concluded, marking the first instance she missed a non-preseason game since November 18, 2017, during her high school years.
She was initially projected to miss four games, but that number increased to five. She returned, only to be injured again. This pattern persisted, and following her latest injury, she was unable to participate in the All-Star Game, which was hosted in her home state of Indiana.
All-Star game viewership experienced a sharp decline, from 3.44 million last year to 2.2 million this year, a 36 percent decrease that Skip attributed to the “Caitlin Effect.” However, Bayless also suggests that her absence is influenced by the way she has been treated by her fellow players.
“Perhaps Caitlin Clark has taken a couple of injury-related breaks simply because she required a pause from the animosity, the resentment, the on-court aggression, and the cheap shots directed at her. I simply observe that Caitlin Clark’s second season in this league, the league that she is energizing, is becoming increasingly curious,” the analyst commented.
Related: “I’m the best player globally, and I’m required to play in a communist nation” – Diana Taurasi discussing her need to play in Russia due to insufficient earnings in the WNBA
The Fever are within one game of the second seed in the East
The Fever displayed strong performance following the All-Star break. After a loss to the New York Liberty in their first game back, they rebounded with five successive victories. However, they have since experienced consecutive losses against the Los Angeles Sparks and Phoenix Mercury.
With a record of 17-14 for the year, Indiana holds the third position in the Eastern Conference, trailing the second-place Atlanta Dream by just one game. Overall, they share the fifth-best record in the entire WNBA with the Las Vegas Aces. While the Fever remain in a favorable position despite CC’s extended absence, Bayless raised concerns because of the uncertainty surrounding Clark’s return.
“It’s a day-to-day situation currently,” Fever head coach Stephanie White stated on ESPN earlier in the week. “We’re intentionally not setting a specific timeline. She’s progressing through the rehabilitation process, and then we plan to reintegrate her from a strength and conditioning perspective, followed by a return to basketball-related activities. So, we’re approaching it one day at a time.”
While White emphasizes Caitlin’s physical well-being, Bayless hints that mental aspects might also be at play. He suggests that the bullying she has encountered in the league has impacted Clark’s shooting performance this season. She may now be attempting to address this by taking a break from the game. Although it’s a classic longshot from Skip, there might be an element of truth to it this time.
Related: Sophie Cunningham on Caitlin Clark’s immense popularity: “The entire world is observing her. It resembles a cult following.”
This narrative was initially covered by Basketball Network on Aug 9, 2025, where it originally appeared.
