The Indiana Fever listed star Caitlin Clark as probable ahead of their game Friday night against the visiting Golden State Valkyries.
Clark missed Wednesday's home win over the Portland Fire with back soreness. She was scratched about 100 minutes before tipoff after not initially appearing on the injury report.
Fever coach Stephanie White said before that game that Clark woke up with stiffness and soreness in her back.
When asked whether the issue can be characterized as an injury, White added: "Her back is sore. If there's anything more detailed than that, that's [for] the training staff [to address]."
White indicated she doesn't expect it to be an ongoing issue for Clark, though she acknowledged, "I'm not a doctor, so I don't know.
"It's not the time to take a chance. We just really want to be cautious."
Clark did not participate in practice Tuesday, instead getting treatment and going through workouts after practice. The Fever did not hold a formal practice Thursday.
Clark, the No. 1 draft pick in 2024 who was named WNBA Rookie of the Year, appeared in only 13 games last season and missed the entire second half due to injury.
White said Wednesday that Clark was "absolutely not" sitting out because of load management.
"She's healthy," White said. "We're not managing anything. This is just a back issue that we want to make sure we give the time to be ready."
During Indiana's season-opening loss to the Dallas Wings, Clark went into the tunnel twice to get her back worked on and "adjusted" before reentering the game. She said afterward that her back "gets out of line pretty quickly" and that her trips off the floor were to "get my back put back in place a little bit."
"That moment where my back tightened up, I think I almost got confidence from that because I came back in and I played eight more minutes, so I felt great," Clark said last week. "It's something I can take confidence from. But it's going to take me a little bit to really get over the mental hurdle of trusting my body."
Asked Wednesday whether the Fever need to do anything additional moving forward to manage Clark's back, White said, "Not that I'm aware of. I mean, I think the biggest thing is just how she feels."
Clark, a two-time All-Star, is averaging 24.3 points, nine assists and five rebounds through the first four games of 2026. She has two straight 20-point, 10-assist performances, including 21 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds in only 24 minutes of a win over the Seattle Storm on Sunday.