Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark was on the receiving end of a hard off-ball foul late in the third quarter of Saturday’s matchup against the Chicago Sky.
On a Fever inbounding play, the Sky’s Chennedy Carter bumped Clark to the floor and was assessed a common away-from-play foul, not a flagrant foul.
Chennedy Carter fouls Caitlin Clark on the inbound. Away-from-play foul called. pic.twitter.com/LodLF5oKMF
Clark appeared shaken up after the play, and when the quarter ended, she appealed to the refs for a harsher punishment for Carter. In an interview after the third quarter, Clark called Carter’s foul “not a basketball play.”
In the Fever’s loss to the Seattle Storm on Thursday, Clark had complained about the level of physicality in the league.
“I feel like I’m getting hammered,” Clark said.
WNBA fans weighed in on the hard foul:
Look how hyped Angel Reese is on the bench after Caitlin Clark takes a cheap shot 😭 pic.twitter.com/GyeG1Q6OhZ
The league got a bounty on Caitlin Clark pic.twitter.com/aY2qlA2SOb
I’m starting to think some WNBA players don’t like Caitlin Clark very much
What is wrong with all of these WNBA players. They’ve turned into Draymond Green level maniacs out here. You could make a compilation at this point and it’s only ten games into Caitlin Clark’s career pic.twitter.com/QTzJ5DeMTW
WNBA players just body checking Caitlin Clark now
They’re gonna kill the golden goose
NFL protects QBs.
WNBA needs to protect stars pic.twitter.com/XpjSVGy1AA
Teresa Weatherspoon is chatting with Chennedy Carter. Presumably about that play with Caitlin.
Clark described it as “not a basketball play” during her sideline interview.
I’m inclined to agree. I understand chirping goes on, but ball was nowhere around. Didn’t need that.
Despite Carter's foul, the Fever clinched its first home win of the season, beating the Sky 71–70. Clark finished with 11.0 points, 8.0 rebounds and 6.0 assists, shooting 4-of-11 from the field and 2-of-9 from three.
In a postgame press conference, Carter refused to comment on her altercation with Clark.
“I ain’t answering no Caitlin Clark questions,” Carter told reporters.
KRISTEN WONG
