Indiana Fever stars Caitlin Clark and Aliyah Boston gave the world a worrying sight tonight. In a losing effort against the New York Liberty, Indiana’s depth was reduced further as the rookie left the floor holding her ear. Later, the reigning Rookie of the Year followed suit. The night ended in disappointment for Indiana as they lost for the ninth time this season. Let us look at the incidents closely that led to the last two overall first picks walking off the court.

In the middle of the third quarter when Indiana trailed Liberty by a whopping 30 points, Caitlin Clark left for the bench. While Todd Champlin, the Athletic Trainer for the Fever, was checking up on the rookie, Aliyah Boston got tangled up with Leonie Fiebich of New York. Consequently, she fell to the ground, twisting her left ankle. The crew helped her off the floor and took her directly to the locker room for further analysis. Fans couldn’t understand why the two stars were on the floor when the game was gone but their head coach, Christie Sides, later revealed that they wanted to be in. “They wanted to fight,” she said.

Sides, who got worried about Clark’s ankle injury scare previously, said in the postgame press conference, “Yeah, I haven’t had a chance to get with Todd yet. He was still evaluating him when I went back there. You know Aliyah was an ankle and Caitlin with an ear, something went on with her ear, that’s all. I don’t know anything other.”

She also talked about the hectic schedule they had to face in the opening weeks of the season. Sides said, “These guys are beat up. Two back-to-backs in one week against Vegas, one against New York. This isn’t a good matchup for us. Probably the worst team we could have played on a back-to-back.” 

There is no update about the two hoopers so far. However, they just might return for their next Commissioner’s Cup matchup on June 7 against Washington. While the Fever has dropped the Commissioner’s Cup game against the Liberty, Sides and the squad is ready to have a much-needed rest. In fact, Caitlin Clark’s coach made their mission of the night quite clear in the pregame conference itself.

What does coach Christie Sides have to say about Caitlin Clark and Co.?

Everyone is now debating how this team and Caitlin Clark need a break to restore themselves. Christie Sides too said the same in the pregame press conference. In fact, she even pointed out that the entire squad was sleeping on their way to Brooklyn instead of discussing the game plan. Talking about how they only wanted to go through this game and take a much-needed 5-day off, Sides said, “These guys deserve some, not just physical rest, but mental rest.”

She also shared the one motivational thing she told the squad, “We got 40 minutes tonight. I need them to not give me what’s left but give me all they got and then also get home and give them a rest.” Kelsey Mitchell and NaLyssa Smith, who both gave team-high performances, agreed that with practice in the 5 days of break, they will improve their overall chemistry further. Interestingly, so far, Indiana has played the most number of games, most back-to-backs and the competition they’ve been up against couldn’t arguably get tougher.

One thing that the entire Indiana crew nodded at was their plan to sleep once they reached home. It will be interesting to see if they can put their money where their mouth is. Although they agree they have a rather light schedule coming up, they would also need to give their fans motivation to keep showing up with wins.

Stay tuned for more such updates. To follow what Shaq’s ex-agent, Leonard Armato had to say about the marketing genius, watch this video.