An update for subscribers and Fever fans

After the Indiana Fever revoked my credentialed access, I want readers to understand what happened, why I stand by the reporting, and what it means for future coverage.

Good afternoon. I wanted to share an important update regarding my coverage of the Indiana Fever.

Indiana Fever public relations informed me via email that my credentialed access to all team events had been revoked. They said it was due to “the spread of inaccurate and unsubstantiated information” and cited my tweet about Caitlin Clark being ruled out 100 minutes before they defeated the Portland Fire on May 20.

Fever PR briefly spoke with me before the game to ask about the tweet and state that they believed it was false. However, there was no meeting or further conversation before the decision to revoke my credentialed access was communicated to me.

In my response, I told the organization that I stand by my reporting and the intent behind it.

Because many of you subscribe to Fieldhouse Files specifically for Fever coverage, I believe it’s important to be transparent about what happened.

The reporting in question was not behind a paywall. It was available to anyone who wanted to read it. It was based on information from a trusted league source. The story provided additional details and was updated before tip-off to include head coach Stephanie White’s pregame comments.

Here’s a portion of that story.

Clark was visible at practice on Tuesday, but White said Clark did not participate. “She got treatment yesterday and went through workouts after practice,” she said.

I reported earlier that there is no new injury or concern. White confirmed that.

“She’s healthy,” said White, adding, “we’re not managing anything. This is just a back issue that we want to make sure we give the time to be ready.”

I also wrote that it was “part of a strategic management plan” for Clark, who missed all but 13 games last season due to several injuries. That was not to insinuate load management, but rather emphasize the precautionary measure given what she experienced last season.

This is Indiana’s fourth game in eight days, with another one coming on Friday against the Golden State Valkyries.

Clark is playing almost 31 minutes per game and is one of several players to wear a black heating pad around her back when not in the game. There’s a lot of stress on one’s body when ramping back up to a full workload, and she hadn’t played significant minutes since last July.

This is how beat reporting works. Report the news, gather additional context, speak with sources, and update readers as new information becomes available.

Given the intense attention surrounding the Fever and Clark — who went from not appearing on the injury report to being ruled out — I believed it was important to provide context rather than allow speculation and misinformation to fill the void.

Here was Clark on her back and health from May 26:

I don’t think it necessarily started at a certain point. I think it’s just been over the course of the last year when I’ve been understanding my body more.

… I think it’s just finding the balance of when I maybe don’t need to be as aware and when I’m maybe a little too over aware. So still working through that, but I don’t think it’s anything of concern.

The Fever took specific issue with the phrase “strategic management plan.” That’s their right. However, it is consistent with what the team has been publicly emphasizing since last season — keeping the big picture in mind and taking a cautious approach.

The next day, the Fever received a warning from the WNBA regarding their injury reporting procedures, according to a league source. And for the three games since, Clark has been listed on the injury report: back — probable.

Here was Clark before the next game, on May 22:

These are the best players in the world and if I don’t feel a hundred percent confident in my body, like on game five of the year, I don’t know if that’s really worth it in that scenario.

I want to play every single game. I want to play 44 games in a season. I’m doing everything I can to do that. I’m putting my body in my best position I can to — and I feel really good and really confident in my body, but there’s moments where I still struggle a little bit and I get in my head and things like that and I’m sore. That’s just the reality of it.

This reflects what the reporting attempted to explain from the beginning: a team and player balancing short-term availability with long-term health.

People can disagree with wording or interpretation; that's part of the relationship between teams and the media. What should not be in dispute is that the reporting was sourced, that it was updated as new information became available, and that readers were given the full context available at the time.

This situation also comes against the backdrop of my relationship with the Pacers. Before the start of the 2023-24 season, my access to the team inexplicably shifted overnight — after being the only one to cover every training camp practice — from daily access to weekends only.

Then, following NBA All-Star Weekend in Indianapolis, those restrictions increased to no access and I was taken off the email distribution list because I parked in the media lot “without the appropriate passes or clearance.”

That’s just not true.

When I arrived, I was welcomed in by the regular attendant and shown where to park before I covered the Indy Host Committee’s first-of-its-kind opening ceremony. I even left him my number in case he needed me to move my car.

I’ve met twice with a Pacers executive for coffee in an attempt to gain understanding, clarity and a path forward. I followed the guidance to communicate through PR and work to build a relationship, but those efforts have not led to a response. Notably, I had no issues until there was a change in the PR department.

I do not have a clear explanation, but I believe that they do not appreciate my existing personal and professional relationships that I’ve built from being at The Fieldhouse for more than 20 years.

One concern raised involved me catching up with a member of the support staff several hours before Game 1 of the NBA Finals. When I was informed that I needed to leave the court area, I did so immediately.

Another involved having a conversation with a longtime member of building security in the corner where the team enters the floor. It was several hours before the game, no players or coaches were present, and the area was not restricted to team personnel; fans walk on one side of the tunnel at games.

That was the only direct interaction I had with Pacers PR while covering all seven games of the 2025 NBA Finals.

However, that has now affected my standing with NBA PR as well. I would have been the only Indianapolis media member in Los Angeles last February to cover Pascal Siakam’s fourth All-Star appearance, but that credential request was declined for the first time. The same thing happened last month for the NBA Draft Lottery, despite my radio partner, 107.5 The Fan (the flagship station of the team), wanting to include my coverage in its Monday morning program.

And for the last few years at NBA Summer League in Las Vegas, I was told I was not welcome to cover Pacers practice between games (while another reporter did). Then, they only made one player available postgame despite being required to make two.

I cannot definitively say whether those Pacers circumstances influenced the Fever’s decision. What I can say is that this latest action follows a pattern that has made it increasingly difficult for an independent journalist to provide the type of on-the-ground coverage that readers deserve.

Yet I have continued doing the work.

I was the only Indy reporter at owner Herb Simon’s Hall of Fame induction in 2024, the only one in Paris in 2025 for Pacers vs. Spurs in the Global Games, and the only basketball reporter in the country to cover Clark playing in The ANNIKA Pro-Am each of the last two years. All while being independent.

I attended every Fever training camp practice this season, every home game, and every playoff game over the last several years (and the Commissioner’s Cup final). I write almost daily, produce regular videos and podcasts, and I'm a frequent guest on radio stations across the country.

I also invested in additional coverage for fans three years ago by hiring a photographer for select games.

I’m the longest-tenured writer currently covering the Pacers or Fever. My work received more than 7.3 million views in the last 12 months — and I have Substack subscribers across 49 states and 83 countries.

There is far more to covering a team than what happens during games. There are offseason developments, community initiatives, sponsorships, media rights, alumni stories, league issues and the countless conversations that help explain what fans are actually seeing. All of which I cover extensively.

I’ve covered the Fever since 2013, back when the league was trying to gain traction. Here’s what media day looked like back in 2015, before they reached the WNBA Finals in October. (And here’s my postgame video report from their Game 1 win.)

Myself and one local TV station interviewing Tamika Catchings at media day 2015. I covered the Fever in the WNBA Finals later that year.

The WNBA has never been bigger. Interest in the Fever has never been greater. At a time when rumors, outrage and conspiracy theories often dominate social media, I believe beat reporting has never been more important.

Journalists should not be the story. Our role is to cover it.

In this case, however, I felt you deserved transparency about what happened and why. I do not take this decision lightly and I'm disappointed by it, particularly because the reporting at issue was sourced, contextualized and updated as additional information became available.

Colleagues in the media have been urging me to go public about these issues with the Pacers from the beginning. I held off because I hoped they could be resolved privately and, until May 20, I had a good relationship with the Fever. Given recent events, I believe readers deserve the full context.

This is my livelihood. I remain committed to covering the Fever, the Pacers and professional basketball in Indiana with the same standards I always have. However, without credentialed access, some aspects of coverage — including player interviews, community events and other on-location reporting — will be more limited due to these team-imposed restrictions.

Even so, I will continue doing the work, telling unique stories and providing the context and coverage that readers have come to expect from Fieldhouse Files.

Thank you for your support, your readership and your trust.