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Indiana Fever general manager Lin Dunn is calling out the WNBA and demanding change after Caitlin Clark was knocked down by Chicago Sky player Chennedy Carter during a June 1 game.
“There’s a difference between tough defense and unnecessary— targeting actions! It needs to stop! The league needs to ‘cleanup’ the crap! That’s NOT who this league is!!” Dunn wrote on her X page on June 1.
Dunn shared a video showing Fever Coach Christie Sides discussing the hard foul and praising Clark. Video of the incident went viral on social media. The Fever narrowly won the game.
Indiana Fever Coach Christie Sides Said She Was Proud of Caitlin Clark for How She Handled the Incident
Asked what needs to be done better to protect Clark, Fever Coach Christie Sides said in the post-game video, “We’re just going to keep sending these possessions to the league and these plays, and hopefully they’ll start, you know, taking a better look at some of the things that we see happening or that we think is happening. Just more happy that Caitlin handled it the way she did.”
Sides added, “It’s tough, you know, to keep getting hammered the way she is and to not get rewarded with freethrows or just a foul called. She’s continued to fight through that. Appreciate that from her. Really proud of her for doing that.”
Meanwhile, for her part, Carter declined to answer questions during a post-game press conference about the Clark incident, although she denied saying anything to Clark. Barstool Sports and other sites believe Carter called Clark an expletive before knocking her down. However, Carter has since liked X posts that mocked Clark.
Indiana Fever Play-by-Play Voice Pat Boylan Called the Foul ‘Blatant’
Dunn also shared an X post by Indiana Fever play-by-play announcer Pat Boylan, who wrote, “I rarely come here to talk officiating, but this is the type of thing Clark has faced a lot in the early going, albeit not this blatant. There’s nothing ‘basketball play’ about this and meets numerous flagrancy criteria.”
Carter liked an extended video in which the original poster accused Clark of starting it, writing, “Here’s an extended look at the Caitlin Clark – Chennedy Carter incident, there was more to it than the shoulder check and Clark was clearly talking to her on the way back up the floor from the prior basket by Indiana.”
In addition, Carter’s teammate Angel Reese has faced criticism on social media for cheering Carter’s action against Clark.
According to CBS Sports, the referees did not call a “flagrant or technical” foul against Carter, instead recording it as an “away from the play foul.”
“Yeah, I wasn’t expecting that,” Clark said, according to CBS Sports. “But it’s just like, respond, calm down and let your play do the talking. It is what it is. It’s a physical game, go make the free throw and then execute on offense. Feel like that’s what we did.”
In a May 29 article in the Indy Star, Clark expressed concern about the game’s physicality, saying, “I think everybody is physical with me, they get away with things that probably other people don’t get away with. It’s tough, but that’s just the fact of the matter. This is a very physical game, and you’re going to get pressure, this is professional basketball. It is what it is, honestly.”
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