Although Indiana Fever superstar point guard Caitlin Clark’s throwback photo wasn’t included in her team’s social media post, her absence and response still made her the focus of content
Caitlin Clark responded to being omitted from the Indiana Fever’s throwback photo post(Image: )
The Indiana Fever anticipated nothing but nostalgia and feel-good vibes after partaking in a harmless online trend that was essentially guaranteed to be a successful post, only to be on the opposite end of two-time All-Star guard Caitlin Clark’s reaction to a glaring franchise omission.
Clark may be one of the most popular players in Fever history, with jersey sales on par only with NBA players, but the Nike-endorsed star was never going to appear in the Fever’s 2016 throwback post.
While WNBA fans witnessed what Fever stars like Kelsey Mitchell, Lexie Hull, and Sydney Colson looked like in their youth, Clark was busy correctly predicting that the Indiana Hoosiers would win their first College Football Playoffs National Championship. The photo carousel started with Mitchell during her junior year at Ohio State, wearing her school’s shirt.
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Photo two showed Hull at Stanford’s Maples Pavilion at the half-court line with her sister Lacie, before both joined the Cardinal team and helped win the Pac-12 women’s tournament in their first year.
The third photo showed the seven-year veteran guard, Colson, playing for the defunct San Antonio Stars at age 26, at a time when she ranked in the top five on the team in assists, steals, and field goal percentage.
The trend continued with Brianna Turner featured during her time at Notre Dame, Shey Peddy’s moment meeting Usain Bolt, and Chloe Bibby winning a gold medal at the FIBA Oceania Under-18 Championship with team Australia in Fiji.
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Not a single moment featured a 14-year-old Clark, who addressed it in the comments herself.
“Can’t be got,” she wrote. The subtle admission instantly became the most talked-about part of the thread, as Clark’s fanbase noticed her absence before anyone else.
The Fever leaned into the joke and replied, “scrolled and found nothing,” confirming that the absence had nothing to do with preference or oversight. In 2016, Clark was nowhere near the skilled athlete that basketball fans love today.
Caitlin Clark was barely in high school at the time of the post(Image: )
That year, Clark improved her skills as a freshman at Dowling Catholic High School in Des Moines, Iowa.
It was before her commitment to Iowa women’s basketball while breaking NCAA scoring records, before she was named Gatorade Player of the Year in 2020, and before she won U16/U19 Team USA gold medals in 2019 and 2021.
She was still years away from evolving into the player who would redefine attendance figures and television ratings and inspire players of the next generation.
Injuries prevented Caitlin Clark from missing most of the last WNBA season(Image: )
Clark played in just 13 games for the Fever last season due to a pile-up of injuries, including an early-season groin issue that forced her to miss the WNBA All-Star game as team captain.
She averaged 16.5 points, 8.8 assists, and five rebounds before a quad injury prevented the young star from the Fever’s second consecutive playoff run, where they lost in the semifinals to the champion Las Vegas Aces.