Chicago Sky guard Chennedy Carter has insisted she is not a dirty player despite a hard shot she delivered to Caitlin Clark during Saturday’s game against the Indiana Fever.
Chennedy Carter scores and gives a shoulder to Caitlin Clarkpic.twitter.com/nQxkw1rvhH
— ✶ Ⓜ️𝕒𝕣𝕔𝕦𝕤 ▶️ ✶ (@_MarcusD3_) June 1, 2024
Carter knocked Clark to the ground while the ball was out of the play during Fever’s 71-70 win. Carter refused to answer questions over the incident after the game while Fever coach Christie Sides said she was concerned about the physical treatment given to Clark, who has received enormous publicity in her rookie season after a record-breaking college career with Iowa. The WNBA upgraded Carter’s foul to a flagrant-1 violation after reviewing video evidence.
Carter has received criticism on social media for the foul but on Monday she defended herself.
“I’m seeing a lot of things – players, fans not understanding who I am as a player,” Carter said. “You have to understand me as a person, too. And don’t just look at one tape and form an opinion about me. I’m truly a passionate person about the game, and I’m genuine. You can ask all my teammates, they’ve gotten to know me. They know the real Chennedy Carter. So I’m just saying, don’t form an opinion off of one little clip. And you didn’t even see the whole game and/or the play that led to that.”
Chicago Sky coach Teresa Weatherspoon also addressed the incident in a statement on Monday.
“Physical play, intensity, and a competitive spirit are hallmarks of Chicago Sky basketball,” Weatherspoon said. “Chennedy got caught up in the heat of the moment in an effort to win the game.
“She and I have discussed what happened and that it was not appropriate, nor is it what we do or who we are. Chennedy understands that there are better ways to handle situations on the court, and she will learn from this, as we all will.”
Clark shrugged off the incident when she was asked about the foul on Sunday.
“You got to find a way to hold your own,” said Clark. “I grew up with two brothers and things were very physical ... so I’m definitely prepared for it.”
Chicago Sky’s Angel Reese, whose rookie year has attracted almost as much attention as that of Clark, defended Carter saying “people are going to have their misconceptions about each one of us”. Reese has also been on the receiving end of physical treatment this season – Connecticut Sun veteran Alyssa Thomas was ejected after a flagrant foul on Reese last month. But she said that the publicity generated by her highly-publicized showdown with Clark in the 2023 college national championship had had a knock-on effect on the WNBA.
“I’ve been dealing with this for two years now [since her rise to fame in college with LSU],” said Reese. “And understanding that, yeah, negative things have probably been said about me, but, honestly, I’ll take that. Because look where women’s basketball is.
“People are pulling up to games, we’ve got celebrities coming to games, sold-out arenas just because of one single game.”
