During Friday’s 99-88 loss to the Minnesota Linx, Caitlin Clark did not receive the foul calls she was hoping for.
Clark mentioned incidents after the game where she was struck by opponents’ players but the referees failed to raise the alarm. According to Clark, she aspires to better control the emotional impact those incidents had on her.
“I thought I got fouled a couple times there in the second half on mid-range jump shots,” Clark said. “It occurs. They occasionally receive calls and occasionally don’t. That’s just the way things are. Though I believe I was bumped a little bit, I think I settled a little too much for mid-ranee jump shoots, and I was genuinely attempting to shot-fake them to get them to foul me.
“I mean, I think I could have done a little bit better of a job controlling my own emotions.”
Caitlin Clark is positioned below
On September 1, 2024, in Arlington, Texas, Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark smiles while glancing at the team bench following a pass to the basket that resulted in a basket against the Dallas Wings in the second half. (Tony Gutierrez/AP Photo)
However, Clark said, she doesn’t think she needs to adjust her feelings.
“I think there’s a line and sometimes your passion, your emotion can get to you,” Clark added. “But that’s never something I would ever change or anybody on our team would change.”
At one point in the third quarter, Napheesa Collier of Minnesota knocked Clark to the ground. When Clark attempted to score in the paint, Collier’s arms seemed to strike him in the upper head and shoulder region.
Collier was not given a foul call by the referees, and Clark was left lying on the ground with her arms at her sides.
With no urgency to get back up, Clark allowed the Lynx to go down the court quickly and score. The Fever never recovered from a 10-point deficit after that touchdown.
Christie Sides, Clark’s coach, also spoke about the event following the game.
“When she’s upset or mad — that’s what we’ve been working on, trying to figure out how to get past those moments,” Sides said. “She’s got to learn that, in those moments, I need my point guard to have a cool head, get us in whatever we need to be in offensively, and if it’s not a foul call that you thought, you have to get back.”
“There’s a reaction to all of our actions, and we have to make sure we don’t put ourselves in a worse spot with those kind of moments.”
Since joining the WNBA, Clark has had to learn how to control her emotions when it comes to severe fouls.
Diamond DeShields of the Chicago Sky sent Clark flying across the floor last week for a foul that was later escalated to a flagrant-1. Following the game, DeShields shared a screenshot of her Instagram notifications list, along with a series of offensive remarks from a user.
Indiana Fever’s Caitlin Clark
On August 30, 2024, in Chicago, at Wintrust Arena, Caitlin Clark of the Indiana Fever responds to a flagrant foul called by Diamond DeShields of the Chicago Sky. (Getty Images / Michael Hickey))
On June 1, Clark was given an infamous illegal hip check by Chicago Sky forward Chennedy Carter. During the post-game press conference, Carter declined to comment on the event but frequently criticised Clark on social media.
On June 16, during a game, Sky rookie Angel Reese attempted to stop a pass and accidentally smacked Clark in the head with her arm.
Joakim Noah, a former NBA All-Star, thinks the Fever should try to resolve the situation by bringing in a player who can take it to the next level when opponents get too violent with Clark.
WNBA ICON SHERYL SWOOPES DISCLAIMS FALSE STATEMENTS MADE BY CAITLIN CLARK AND ACCUSES HER EX-FRIEND NANCY LIEBERMAN
DeShields, Diamond, from Chicago Sky
On August 30, 2024, at Wintrust Arena in Chicago, Diamond DeShields of the Chicago Sky runs into Caitlin Clark of the Indiana Fever. (Getty Images / Michael Hickey)
During an interview at “NBA Night” in the Emirates Suite at the U.S. Open in New York on Wednesday, Noah told Fox News Digital, “If I was the owner of the Indiana Fever, I would get a real enforcer in there to protect her.”
Noah admitted that because opponents are aware of Clark’s ability to create an impact on the floor, they might be hitting her.
“Sometimes I feel like she is getting hit because she is a very talented person,” he remarked. “But at the end of the day, we’re in the business of winning games, so if I’m the owner [of the Indiana Fever], I’m getting a real enforcer in there.”
Noah thinks, nonetheless, that Clark’s physical treatment has been beneficial to the WNBA.
When directly asked about the fouls committed against Chicago, Noah responded, “I think it’s great.” “I think it’s all entertainment.”