Recently, controversy erupted in the WNBA after Chicago Sky player Chennedy Carter aggressively fouled star rookie Caitlin Clark, who plays for the Indiana Fever. In the aftermath of the incident, Carter recently had her foul upgraded while rookie forward Angel Reese received a disciplinary fine.
Reportedly, Carter was originally charged with a common foul for the aggressive contact against Clark. However, upon review of the play, the WNBA escalated the foul to a flagrant-1 violation. Additionally, Reese was fined $1,000 for refusing to speak to reporters after the game. The Chicago Sky was also hit with a $5,000 fine for refusing to comply with the league’s media policies.
The incident has sparked commentary regarding Clark’s treatment, where the Indiana Fever’s general manager, Lin Dunn, and head coach Christie Sides have defended their star player. “There’s a difference between tough defense and unnecessary – targeting actions!” Dunn said. “It needs to stop! The league needs to ‘cleanup’ the crap! That’s NOT who this league is!!”
Sides claimed she was sending footage of the incident to the league office for further review. “I’m trying not to get fined,” she said. “I’m just gonna keep sending these possessions to the league and these plays. Hopefully, they’ll start to, you know, take a better look at some of the things we see happening, or we think is happening.”
The coach continued, “Just more happy Caitlin handled it the way she did. It’s tough to keep getting hammered the way she does and to not get rewarded with free throws or a foul call. She’s continuing to fight through that. Appreciate that from her, really proud of her for doing that.”
The American Tribune recently reported on the controversial foul against Clark, where Carter has received substantial backlash. Following the hard foul, which knocked her opponent to the ground, Carter maintained that she would not answer questions regarding Clark in a post-game press conference. “I ain’t answering no Caitlin Clark questions,” Carter told reporters. “I don’t know what she said. I didn’t say anything.”
Clark asserted that Carter’s foul against her was not reasonable contact and fell within the bounds of normal basketball play. “Yeah, that’s just not a basketball play,” Clark explained. “But you know I’ve gotta play through it, that’s what basketball is about at this level. I thought we’ve been really physical, we’ve missed some bunnies around the rim, so hopefully those fall in the fourth.”
She further explained that she was not expecting the foul but emphasized that she would play through the physicality. “I wasn’t expecting it,” she said after the game. “It is what it is. It’s a physical game. Go make the free throw and execute on offense and I feel like that’s kind of what we did.” She continued, “I feel like I’m getting hammered, I don’t know.”
Since entering the WNBA, Caitlin Clark has become the subject of considerable criticism. Former ESPN personality Jemele Hill claimed that Clark’s popularity, which she suggested was influenced by her being straight and white, was “a little problematic.” Watch the foul committed against Clark below:
Note: The featured image is a screenshot from the embedded video.
"*" indicates required fields