WNBA icon Sue Bird has called out what she perceives as a blatant double standard concerning Caitlin Clark’s recent quad injury.
Indiana Fever’s marquee guard has been heralded for revolutionising the allure of women’s basketball since dazzling crowds during her time at Iowa Hawkeyes. Thanks to Clark’s magnetic draw after being picked first in the previous year’s draft, away matches involve shifting to larger venues to cope with the upsurge in ticket demand.
Yet, following a quad strain sustained in their defeat to New York Liberty on May 24 that could see Clark benched for a fortnight, Bird aired her frustrations. Speaking on her A Touch More podcast, she criticised any thoughts of refunding fans due to player injuries, contrasting it with attitudes in men’s sports.
“Injuries are a part of it,” Bird declared. “I get it, it sucks. If you bought a ticket to see somebody and they’re hurt, I get it, that’s a big bummer. But no, you would never say that about men’s sports.
“If LeBron was out or Steph Curry or the big names were out for a couple weeks, [the NBA] would never be like, ‘Oh, we are going to reimburse you guys, sorry about that’. Now you’re just not taking the WNBA as a business. So yeah, she’s hurt. It sucks. The league will continue to go on.
“I’ve seen some stuff where it’s like, people don’t want to go because she’s not playing, which is fair if that’s who you want to see. But then, in some ways, I’m like you’re now doing a disservice to her because, for those who don’t realize it, supporting the league is supporting Caitlin.
“So if you want to support Caitlin, you have to support the league. She’s a part of that ecosystem, she doesn’t get to separate herself out, so that’s one thing that doesn’t add up to me.”
After Clark’s injury, the Fever suffered losses in their following two matches, with Sydney Colson and Sophie Cunningham also out of action. Nonetheless, Indiana snapped their losing streak with an 85-76 triumph over the Washington Mystics on Tuesday.
The victory was bolstered by the recent addition of Aari McDonald, who signed with the Fever on Monday under the emergency hardship exception rule as the team had less than 10 available players. The number three draft pick from 2021, McDonald came off the bench to contribute seven points, five assists, and three steals in 27 minutes.
“Not everybody can do that. That’s a point guard mindset,” praised Fever head coach Stephanie White. “I thought she did a great job. She’s hungry, number one. And number two, she knows how to play. And she’s just a dog on defense; we needed that.”
Fever luminaries Lexie Hull and Kelsey Mitchell have commended McDonald for her stellar performance, which contributed to the team’s first victory in the wake of Clark’s injury. Coach White has previously suggested that Clark’s setback, potentially lasting longer than the initial two-week reassessment period, could be advantageous for other squad members and offer Clark a new outlook.
“You look at injuries that happen, especially early in the season, it gives you opportunities to build confidence in your depth,” White remarked during a press briefing last month. “It gives you opportunities to see what you could look like down the stretch because when you’re playing at the end of the year and in the postseason, rotation can be a little bit deeper.
“You want players to have confidence in those moments to be able to step up and make the play or take the shot. I think it gives us opportunities for growth.
“I also think it’s going to give Caitlin opportunities for growth. Now, she’s going to see it on the sideline, she’s going to be hearing us talk about it on the sideline from a coach’s perspective.
“There’s varying levels to how you see the game as a player in year one, two, and as player in year nine, 10. And as a coach, assistant coach and all of those things. So, it gives her an opportunity to see it from a different lens.”