There have been plenty of people making a run at Caitlin Clark during her rookie season in the WNBA, as defenses hone in on the Indiana Fever’s star guard as the focal point of their defensive game plan.
Clark hasn’t been one to back down from the competition, however, and after draining a big three-pointer against the Seattle Storm on Thursday night, she could be seen getting face-to-face with one of her opponents.
While walking back on defense after her deep three, Clark could be seen jawing back and forth with Storm’s Victoria Vivians. The pair got up close and in each other’s faces before Aliyah Boston swooped in and pulled her teammate out of the situation.
â Womenâs Hoops Network (@WomensHoops_USA) May 30, 2024
Clark didn’t look too pleased with Vivians as she turned to head back down the court, and they appeared to bump shoulders before being separated.
Officials assessed Vivians and Clark with double technical fouls and play resumed shortly after. Thursday’s incident marks the second technical of the season for Indiana’s prized rookie, having picked up her first in a game against the Connecticut Sun on May 20.
The foul was originally issued an away-from-ball foul, but it was later changed to a Flagrant 1 after a WNBA review. Carter refused to answer any questions about Clark in her post-game media session, so it's unclear what caused the incident.
Carter didn't keep her silence for too long regarding the situation, as she posted a comment about Clark on Threads on Sunday. The comment was clearly a dig at Clark, who was the No. 1 WNBA draft pick in April.
"Beside three point shooting what does she bring to the table man," Carter wrote.
â Nicole Auerbach (@NicoleAuerbach) June 2, 2024
There seems to be some tension on and off the court now between some of the players.
The foul itself sparked a frenzy on social media, with Fever coach Christie Sides even adding her thoughts on the "unacceptable" foul. She even posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, asking for something to be done about fouls like this.
This is unacceptable @wnba When will the consistent complaints be heard?!? Something has to be done! https://t.co/QVf1vHA5l4
1. You rarely see Stephen A. Smith left speechless, but that was the case on Monday morningâs episode of First Take thanks to panelist Monica McNutt.
After a discussion on Chennedy Carterâs cheap shot foul on Caitlin Clark that was the talk of the sports world over the weekend, Smith tried to take credit for his show giving extensive coverage to the WNBA.
McNutt, however, was not having it.
âWho talks about the WNBA, who talks about womenâs sports more than First Take,â asked Stephen A.
McNutt was not having the revisionist history.
âStephen A., respectfully, with your platform you couldâve been doing this three years ago if you wanted to,â replied McNutt.
This left Smith stunned and all he could muster was a pair of back-to-back âwows.â
A little back-and-forth followed:
McNutt: âYou know youâre my guyâŚâ
Smith: âWho does more than us?â
McNutt: âStephen A., Iâm talking to you. Donât do that. Iâm talking to you about the power than you have.â
Smith: âOK, OK. I got it. Youâre my girl, but you missed a lot episodes of First Take. You missed a lot.â
McNutt: âStephen A., three years ago you would not talk about the WNBA at this level. Donât do that.â
Itâs one thing for McNutt to disagree with Stephen A., but after he challenged her, she doubled down and didnât back down. That was impressive.
Sadly, moderator Molly Qerim cut off the discussion, which couldâve been riveting television of McNutt and Smith continued to argue over First Takeâs coverage of the WNBA.
I donât want to paint the media with one brush, but as someone who covers this stuff, Iâd say 99% of sprots media, including First Take, did not cover the WNBA the way theyâre covering it now. And even now, theyâre not covering the WNBA.
Theyâre covering Caitlin Clark.
2. I donât follow the WNBA, so I donât know what the unwritten rules are or what protocol is for something like this. However, if Iâm just comparing it to the NBA game, what I donât understand about the foul that Chennedy Carter committed against Caitlin Clark is how none of Clarkâs Fever teammates went after Carter and just let her get away with the cheap shot.
It's also good to see the refs in the WNBA are just as incompetent as the refs in all the other sports by calling this a common foul. (It got changed to a Flagrant-1 the following day.)
3. Since there has been a massive amount of coverage regarding the future of Inside the NBA over the past few weeks (especially in this column), I thought this nugget was worth sharing.
Last Thursday, more people watched Inside the NBA on TNT (2.8 million) after the Mavericks eliminated the Timberwolves in the Western Conference Finals than Game 5 of the Panthers-Rangers Eastern Conference Finals game on ESPN (2.1 million).
Mavericks/Timberwolves game 5: 6.3 million (6.148m on TNT, 114K on truTV)
Inside the NBA (11:01-11:53P): 2.8m
Panthers/Rangers on ESPN: 2.1m
College Softball World Series on ESPN2:
Oklahoma St/Florida: 783K Stanford/Texas: 697K
â Sports TV Ratings (@SportsTVRatings) May 31, 2024
4. As proven here by Clemson, all of baseball needs more attempts at the hidden ball trick.
5. It has to be demoralizing for a hometown team when the fans in the stands are rooting for the opponent. Look at what took place in the San Francisco Giantsâ ballpark on Sunday when New York Yankees slugger Juan Soto hit a go-ahead two-run homer in the top of the 9th.
Look at all the Yankee fans stand up when Juan Soto made contact.
â Joe Randazzo đđđ (@LibrarianJoe_) June 3, 2024
6. The latest episode of SI Media With Jimmy Traina features a conversation with Charles Barkley.
The Inside the NBA host discusses the possibility of TNT losing the NBA in the current television rights negotiations, his frustration with the lack of communication from Warner Brothers Discovery about the negotiations, whether the show could continue on another network, reaction from fans to the possible end of Inside the NBA, the awkwardness of still having to work next season for TNT if it loses the NBA beginning in the 2025â26 season, and the lack of loyalty from the NBA and what would make him decide between ESPN, NBC and Amazon if he became a free agent.
Barkley also goes off on CNN for never telling him that his show with Gayle King, King Charles, was canceled, he explains what could make him be the subject of a comedy roast, who the two nicest GOATS are in sports, the Lakers saying that LeBron James doesn't have a say in their coaching search and the reaction to his recent Caitlin Clark rant.
Following Barkley, Sal Licata from WFAN and SNY joins me for the weekly âTraina Thoughtsâ segment. This week's topics include the passing of Bill Walton, Ăngel HernĂĄndez's retirement from Major League Baseball, the mystery behind the Dov Kleiman Twitter account and the latest story about a restaurant charging for a ridiculous service.
7. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: Since hard fouls against Caitlin Clark are all the rage these days, letâs take a look at some of the hardest fouls in NBA history.
Indiana Fever rookie Caitlin Clark, who starred at Iowa and is a key reason for the boom in popularity of women's basketball over the last couple of years, was reportedly left off Team USA's roster for the 2024 Summer Olympics.
There's an argument to be made that Clark would be at the end of the bench if she did make Team USA this summer, but it's still a curious decision to leave her off the roster given her draw in media.
While Clark has been up-and-down in her first season as a professional, she brings eyeballs to the television and the arena, as exhibited by the sellout crowd of 20,333 in attendance to see Clark and the Fever take on the Washington Mystics on Friday night at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C. The sellout crowd was the largest WNBA crowd in 17 years.
Largest WNBA crowd in 17 yearsâ20,333âsees Fever beat Mystics, 85-83.
Caitlin Clark makes 7 threes, scores 30 points, adds 8 rebounds, 6 assists, 4 steals.
Clark had her best game of her rookie season in front of that crowd, scoring 30 points on seven made threes, while adding eight rebounds, six assists and four steals.
Clark joins Dallas Wings guard Arike Ogunbowale as notable snubs for the summer Olympics roster. Here's who Team USA will be bringing instead, which is undoubtedly a loaded group.
The Team USA Women's Basketball Olympics roster has been announced, per ďżź@ShamsCharania and @joevardon đşđ¸
A'ja Wilson Breanna Stewart Diana Taurasi Alyssa Thomas Brittney Griner Napheesa Collier Jewell Loyd Kelsey Plum Jackie Young Kahleah Copper Sabrina Ionescu Chelsea Gray pic.twitter.com/222FOOhAAh
â Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) June 8, 2024
On television draw alone, many expected Clark to make the roster. Now that she hasn't, basketball fans across social media are outraged.
Christian Laettner made the Dream Team. Caitlin Clark canât make the womenâs Olympic basketball team? What mostly pays for the Olympics â oh wait â revenue generated from broadcasting partners. As in TV. As in Caitlin is TV GOLD. Opportunity wasted.
Caitlin Clark has been left off the Olympic womenâs basketball roster. Womenâs basketball hates its fans and doesnât want to grow their game. Thatâs the only conclusion you can draw from their treatment of Clark. She would quadruple their viewership by herself. No brainer.
I donât know enough about USA womenâs Olympic basketball to know if Caitlin Clarkâs omission is a snub. I do know that, right now, she would be the only reason I would remotely care about USA womenâs Olympic basketball. https://t.co/IAP8bulQXg
I really want to hear the decision making behind leaving Caitlin Clark off the USA Basketball roster. Because I canât fathom an explanation that makes sense.
