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Chicago Sky player Chennedy Carter knocked Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark to the ground during a WNBA game on June 1, viral video shows. She is accused of calling Clark an expletive before the incident, which has gone viral on social media.
“The question is will they call it unnecessary,” the announcer says in the video. Many on social media felt the foul should have been flagrant. According to Sports Illustrated, Carter “was assessed a common away-from-play foul, not a flagrant foul.”
Other videos showed Carter’s teammate Angel Reese cheering her teammate after the knockdown.
Carter defended herself on X commenting “yeah this the play lol” on a fan’s post of an extended video in which the poster wrote, “a little shove in the back……” referring to Clark. She also liked posts mocking Clark.
The New York Post called the knockdown “blatant.” Outkick called it a “cheap shot.” Sports Illustrated dubbed it a “hard off-ball foul.”
The video shows Carter elbowing or body checking Clark so hard that Clark fell to the ground. Before the encounter, the video shows Carter mouthing a phrase that Barstool Sports (and many on social media) interpreted as “you [expletive],” or “you little [expletive],” although Carter later denied saying anything to Clark in a post-game press conference.
A longer view of the video shows that Carter bumped Clark after Carter scored.
Clark’s team, the Indiana Fever, defeated Carter’s team, the Chicago Sky, in a 71-70 game, according to The New York Post.
After the Incident, Chennedy Carter Refused to Answer ‘Caitlin Clark Questions’
Carter did not want to address the incident in the post-game press conference.
“I ain’t answering no Caitlin Clark questions,” Carter said in the after-game press conference.
“Did she say anything to you?” a reporter asked.
“I don’t know what she said,” Carter said.
“What did you say to her?”
“I didn’t say anything to her,” Clark said.
“That’s enough,” a woman’s voice said.
Caitlin Clark Said That Chennedy Carter’s Action Was ‘Not a Basketball Play’
Clark responded that the bump wasn’t a “basketball play.”
For her part, Clark told ESPN in its broadcast, according to the New York Post, “Yeah, that’s just not a basketball play. 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.”
The incident came in the game’s third-quarter, according to SI.
Sports Illustrated reported that the foul left Clark “shaken,” reporting that she “appealed to the refs for a harsher punishment for Carter” to no avail.
Some fans agreed with Clark that Carter should have received greater punishment.
An X user wrote, “Chennedy Carter screamed “You Little [Expletive]” at Caitlin Clarke, then blatantly hip checked her before the ball was even inbounded, and somehow that’s not a flagrant foul???”
Clark said after a previous game that she felt like she was “being hammered” due to the level of physicality in the WNBA games, where controversy has erupted over the attention and marketing deals that have been given to Clark since she entered the professional league.
In February, the Chicago Sky announced in a press release that the team was “has signed guard Chennedy Carter (KEN-eh-dee Carter) to a training camp contract.” According to that release, “Carter was the fourth overall pick in the 2020 WNBA Draft by Atlanta. She was named to the WNBA All-Rookie Team after averaging 17.4 points and 3.4 assists in 16 games (all starts) for the Dream. She averaged 14.2 points the following year in Atlanta before being acquired by Los Angeles in 2022. In 51 career games, including 29 starts, Carter averaged 12.7 points and 2.7 assists.”
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