VIDEO: Caitlin Clark Says WNBA Ref Called Her Out For “Disrespecting The Game Of Basketball” During Fever’s Win Over Storm
Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever continued on their winning streak when they picked up their second win following the Olympic break after beating the Seattle Storm 92-75.
The game did not go off without its fair share of controversy.
The biggest headline from the game was Caitlin Clark breaking the WNBA rookie assist record, but it would become a footnote to what happened to her in the third quarter.
Clark picked up her fifth technical foul on the season after the Indiana Fever star let her frustrations boil over when she struck the backboard after missing 3 in Sunday’s game vs. Seattle.
After the game, Caitlin Clark spoke to reporters and stated that the ref who gave her the technical foul had some harsh words for her.
“I got a technical for basically being mad at myself because I missed a 3, and then I went and hit the backboard, and he told me it was disrespectful to the game of basketball,” Clark said after Indiana’s 92-75 win over the Storm on Sunday, per Indy Star. It reminded me of the technical I got in college, where I said ‘damn it,’ where it’s like a personal frustration. Had nothing to do with my team, had nothing to do with the reffing, had nothing to do with the other team. It’s just because I’m a competitor, and I felt like I should have been making more shots, so…
“But I think he fired me up to continue to play a lot harder. I thought we got a lot better after that. I want to thank him for that. But overall, I thought once we got to that media timeout around 5 minutes in the third quarter, I thought we all kind of took a breath. It was all chaos there for 2 ½ minutes. I think I could have done a better job of regaining my cool, but that’s like the fire and passion that just gets me going, it’s just finding a way to channel that, use that, and I think I did a real good job of that at the end of the third quarter, the start of the fourth quarter.”
Caitlin Clark says the ref told her she was "being disrespectful to the game of basketball" after handing Clark a technical foul for hitting the backboard with her hand. pic.twitter.com/rN3cWU2Usf
— The Sporting News (@sportingnews) August 18, 2024
Clark, who leads the WNBA in assists at 8.3 per game, had 9 on Sunday and passed Ticha Penicheiro’s previous rookie record of 224 which was set in 1998.
Indiana, seventh in the WNBA standings, is now 13-15 on the year.
Caitlin Clark Facing One Game Suspension
Caitlin Clark might be the Draymond Green of the WNBA, just without the unnecessary violence, and she can actually shoot the basketball.
Indiana Fever has always been known as a fiery player, and this has gotten her in trouble with the refs many times.
On Sunday, her team may have won, but she also received her fifth technical of the year.
Two more technical fouls, and she will trigger an automatic one-game suspension.
That would come at a bad time, as the team is in the thick of things trying to make the playoffs.
