Who is the face of the WNBA? According to a survey of 40 anonymous players, the answer is clear: Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark. She dominated the vote with 53.8 percent, while no other player even crossed the 20 percent mark. Since stepping into the league in 2024, Clark has worn that crown with ease, becoming the overwhelming choice of her peers. But now, if one analyst is to be believed, cracks are starting to show in that dominance. And because of a game of back and forth that the Fever played.

Initially, there were cracks due to Clark’s injury at the start of the season. It marked the first time she had missed a game since her debut, and the league felt it instantly. TV viewership dipped by nearly 40 percent for the first two NBA TV games (May 28: 357,000 viewers and June 3: 330,000 viewers), exposing just how dependent the spotlight was on her presence. While pundits initially dismissed it as a temporary setback with her return expected in two weeks, the issue only grew. Two more injuries sidelined her before she ultimately shut down her sophomore year. With Clark out, the shift was undeniable.

The Fever, once the league’s biggest box-office draw, slipped in attendance. In June, attendance for Fever games dropped by 22% overall in Clark’s absence. With Clark on the floor, Fever games averaged 16,965.25 fans in attendance compared to just 13,234 when she sat out due to injury. And just when things seemed to be getting back on track as the other Fever players kept putting up a fight, according to the CDS Sports Podcast, the Fever played a gamble by roping fans in. They did it by delaying updates on Clark and igniting false hopes. As the days went by, the gamble backfired as the fans felt more deceived. “They’ve gotten to the point now, I think, where the fans were saying, you know what, you s——d us. You lied to us. You dragged us out. Caitlin Clark is not coming back.”

The team to seize Fever’s spot was the Golden State Valkyries, who made their debut this year. Well, according to the CDS Sports Podcast, they are, cause he claims Indiana is slipping. Earlier, as the analyst claims, Clark, playing with Indiana, put on an average of 600K viewers on the NBA TV. But the same kind of results are not showing up this season. To back claims, the analyst picked up one of the biggest games for this season: the Phoenix Mercury vs the Indiana Fever.

According to Sophie Cunningham, “There was some, maybe a little bit of beef” among the players heading into this game. So, evidently, the game had it all, from on-court battles to off-court tension. But the reality? The game peaked at 310K viewers on the NBA TV, far below the averages from 2024. According to the podcast, this game was the point where fans started to question the return of Clark, a question that lingered on throughout this season. “But it was at that point where people are probably saying, you know what, this is it. Caitlin Clark’s not coming back,” claimed the podcast. In her absence, the debut team of GSV started making waves. Their at-home attendance was unparalleled.

And in the process, the newest team of the league shattered records of the 2024 Indiana Fever, when Caitlin Clark’s arrival helped the Fever attract 340,715 fans for the year and 17,036 per game. The Valkyries made history by selling out all 22 of their home games at the Chase Center, setting a new WNBA benchmark. They averaged 18,064 fans per game, culminating in a total attendance of 397,408.

However, the analyst’s numbers don’t tell the full story. Caitlin Clark sitting out this season hasn’t significantly hurt viewership. The Fever’s numbers haven’t gone down. They, too, bested their 2024 mark by attracting 349,313 fans. But, as the analyst claims, the numbers could have been far better had the Fever not dangled a wishful bone in front of the fans, angering them in the process.

“We knew she [Clark] was not coming back. They’re just not telling us that she’s not coming back. Everyone feels like they’ve been strung along. And that is why Caitlin Clark is traveling with the team, because they want to get the fans there. They want to keep the fans’ hopes alive that they’re coming back. So the fans like, ‘Well, I’m going to continue to support the team because Caitlin Clark’s coming back and Caitlin Clark’s at the game, so I’m going to watch on TV and they’re going to show her on the sidelines and she’s going to sign autographs before and after the game for the fans that are showing up,'” alleged CDS Sports Podcast.

However, comparing the decline of Indiana to the rise of the Golden State is like comparing apples to oranges.

GSV was welcomed in the league wholeheartedly by their die-hard sports-loving fans. Demands of a WNBA franchise were long overdue by their fans. When the team arrived, they showered them with love. On the other hand, Indiana, for decades, was finding itself at the bottom of the leaderboards. But they had a surge of new fans thanks to CC. So naturally, as Clark sits out, there is bound to be a dip. However, Indiana is now attaining a fanbase of itself as well, thanks to other standout players like Mitchell or the vocal Cunningham.

Still and all, it’s fair to say that fans would have liked a bit more transparency.

Caitlin Clark’s injury is becoming an eyesore for the Indiana

Caitlin Clark hardly envisioned her sophomore season this way. Instead of building on her electrifying rookie year, injuries sidelined her again and again, keeping her out for most of the campaign. It started on May 24 with a left quad injury against the Liberty, costing her five games. She returned on June 14 and powered the Fever past New York, only to suffer a left groin injury ten days later against Seattle. That setback forced another 15-day absence.

When she finally stepped back on July 9, she was clearly not at full strength, averaging just 12.5 points, 5 rebounds, and 8.7 assists. Six days later came the breaking point: a right groin injury in the closing seconds of a win over the Sun at TD Garden. After that, Clark never suited up for Indiana again. What followed was almost as damaging as the injuries themselves.

The Fever front office offered little clarity, cycling through vague updates that left fans frustrated. Beat writers shared conflicting reports, while the team delayed revealing the full story of her ankle injury. Clark gave no insight, and their messaging leaned more toward damage control than honesty. Even now, questions linger about when and how that bone bruise occurred, with the official explanation never quite matching up. For a player who was supposed to carry the league forward, the lack of transparency surrounding her health has only deepened the sense of mistrust.