Caitlin Clark was held again by her coach as she was concerned in a heated confrontation with a WNBA referee on Tuesday evening.
The incident occurred late within the third quarter when officers had been checking whether or not the Indiana Fever or Connecticut Solar had knocked the ball out of bounds following a missed shot.
Clark was seen in dialog with Mike Worth earlier than showing to take concern with one thing that was mentioned.
The star guard clearly had extra to say because the veteran WNBA official walked away, and was then dragged again to the bench by Fever assistant Briann January.
“Are you f***ing kidding me?” she appeared to say because the incident unfolded.
With the play nonetheless beneath overview after the preliminary conflict, ESPN’s broadcast then confirmed Clark shouting in the direction of the officers once more.
“That’s simply impolite. Develop up. Unbelievable,”she added, in keeping with Fox Information, whereas additionally gesturing to the referee to come back again and converse to her.
Worth, nonetheless, was unfazed by Clark’s actions, and the Fever celebrity managed to keep away from selecting up a technical foul.
She did, nonetheless, re-injure her groin late within the 85-77 win over the Solar.
In what was her fourth recreation again since being sidelined for a lot of the final month, the reigning Rookie of the 12 months put up 14 factors, seven assists and eight rebounds in a hard-fought victory.
However with 39.1 seconds left within the recreation, Clark accomplished a bounce move to Kelsey Mitchell, and instantly held the within of her proper thigh.
She grimaced earlier than strolling over and banging her head towards the stanchion in obvious frustration, and sat again down on the bench with a towel over her head.
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Clark didn’t return to the sport, and talking afterwards, Fever head coach Stephanie White confirmed her celebrity ‘felt a little bit one thing in her groin’ and mentioned she will probably be evaluated.
Dave Portnoy, who has made no secret of his love for Clark and Indiana, recommended the workforce ought to take drastic motion after the most recent harm setback.
“Relaxation Caitlin until the playoffs,” he wrote on X.
“Kinda loopy she got here again earlier than the all star break. Want her 100% if this workforce had any likelihood for an actual run.
“They’re ok to make playoffs with out her.”
Portnoy additionally identified one other controversial second within the Fever’s win over the Solar, which noticed Sophie Cunningham take an inexpensive shot from an opponent.
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Within the fourth quarter, Cunningham hit the ground after taking what gave the impression to be an elbow from Solar heart Olivia Nelson-Ododa.
The Fever star shrugged it off and rapidly acquired up, earlier than she approached the referee to complain in regards to the incident.
Officers, nonetheless, determined to miss it.
“Think about not calling this, not reviewing this after which telling Sophie she flopped. Sick league,” Portnoy wrote, tagging the WNBA’s X account as he responded to the conflict.
Caitlin Clark adjustments WNBA All-Star commerce guidelines after touchdown vocal critic as coach
The incident between Cunningham and Nelson-Ododa got here simply weeks after the Fever star introduced herself because the league’s latest ‘enforcer’ in what was a bad-tempered affair between the 2 groups at Gainbridge Fieldhouse final month.
Whereas Indiana’s No. 8 was on the heart of the motion as soon as extra on Tuesday evening, all eyes will probably be on Clark transferring ahead as followers await information on her newest harm setback.
The 23-year-old was set to captain her workforce for the WNBA’s All Star Sport this weekend, however her participation will now be up within the air.
She may additionally miss the Fever’s subsequent recreation towards the New York Liberty on the Barclays Middle on Wednesday night, which is the second recreation of a back-to-back run for Indiana.