As the WNBA’s most prominent rising star, Caitlin Clark has faced increased defensive attention and physicality from her opponents throughout her short tenure in the pros. The physicality has been over the top at times, though, prompting some to insinuate that the 23-year-old is being targeted by her defenders. That notion gained even more steam following a heated altercation between the Indiana Fever and Connecticut Sun on Tuesday.
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Tensions boiled over during the Fever’s win over the Sun, with Clark once again in the spotlight. A physical exchange between Clark and Sun guard Jacy Sheldon escalated in the third quarter when Sheldon poked the star playmaker in the eye. The incident sparked a scuffle, culminating in another Sun guard, Marina Mabrey, forcefully shoving Clark to the ground.
Clark was assessed a technical foul, along with Mabrey and Sun veteran Tina Charles, while Sheldon’s common foul was upgraded to a Flagrant 2. Fever head coach Stephanie White expressed her frustration with the officiating after the game, saying she was given no explanation for the technical foul called on Clark.
This incident once again sparked the discussion that Clark isn’t respected around the league. Skip Bayless and Matt Barnes recently touched on the topic, with the former NBA forward explaining why the Iowa standout continues to face so much disrespect.
“I feel like there’s a lot of hate on Caitlin Clark, and I think, I think it’s ’cause she’s white,” Barnes said on The Skip Bayless Show. “‘Cause she’s a hooper and she’s going out there and busting people’s a** every single night and it’s this little pretty, petite, country girl that you’re not expecting.”
Barnes also knows that, despite claims that may say otherwise, Clark is the key to the W’s growing viewership. “Again, she’s not super athletic, she’s not super big, but boy, can she shoot that ball and she is must-watch TV,” the 45-year-old continued. “I think when she was hurt a few weeks ago, they said viewership dropped by 52%.”
Barnes pointed out that when Clark’s Fever visits, opposing teams are often tasked with finding a bigger venue for the contest. She may still have a long way to go before entering any GOAT talks, but Clark is clearly on the path to accomplishing something that has never been done in women’s basketball before. The W’s viewership reflects that when she’s not suiting up.
The Fever got their first taste of life without their face of the franchise, and it wasn’t pretty. After suiting up for 183 straight regular season and playoff games between college and the pros, Clark was forced out for five games with a strained left quad. The Fever’s nationally televised viewership plummeted, going from 1,810,000 viewers with Clark compared to 847,000 without her.
There are a plethora of exciting young stars in the WNBA. But none have the pull of Clark, whose presence single-handedly doubles her team’s viewership numbers. Now that she’s back and leading the Fever to wins, though, Indiana will be hoping its face of the franchise will be healthy for the stretch run.
