Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark called out officials following her team’s 86-77 win over the Phoenix Mercury on Monday. She was one of five players assessed technical fouls amid a fourth-quarter dust-up that also involved former teammate DeWanna Bonner.
Clark was called for a personal foul at the 7:57 mark in the fourth quarter after getting tangled up with Bonner, who was trying to post up near the free-throw line. The two exchanged some words before things escalated as their teammates got involved. Clark appeared flabbergasted when she learned she received a technical foul for clapping while her teammate Myisha Hines-Allen and the Mercury’s Alyssa Thomas were in each other’s faces.
Bonner, Thomas, Hines-Allen and Fever guard Sophie Cunningham were also assessed technical fouls for their actions during the scuffle. (Hines-Allen was later ejected from the game after earning another technical foul for pushing Thomas after being called for a foul in the very next play.)
This marks Clark’s fifth technical of the season so far. Players who rack up eight technical fouls in a season must serve a one-game suspension.
“It’s ridiculous. I got a tech for clapping,” Clark said after the game. “We should all just go on the calendar now and pick a game that I’m going to be suspended for if I’m going to get technicals for clapping.
“If any technicals should be taken away, it should be that one,” Clark added. “I don’t understand it at all. … I’m going to play with emotion. I’m going to play with passion. And if they’re going to give me a technical foul for clapping, then so be it. That’s their choice.”
This was not the first time this season the two-time All-Star has been seen clapping toward other players or officials during a game. None of the previous occasions resulted in Clark receiving a technical foul. The star guard has been receiving more attention this season for her behavior during games outside of her play. The Fever reportedly plan to appeal the technical foul.
Clark led all scorers with 24 points while also dishing out nine assists in the Fever win, while Kelsey Mitchell added 22 points. For the Mercury, Kahleah Copper led with 20 points, while Thomas had 19 points, five rebounds and nine assists.
Bonner, a two-time WNBA champion, had signed a one-year contract with the Fever last season. She played in just nine games before parting ways with the team and eventually rejoining the Mercury, where she started her career. Fever fans could be heard booing Bonner at various times during Monday’s game at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
Fever coach Stephanie White said that Clark has to be aware of her technical fouls and that “there are some that we could do without.”
“There are natural things that happen that the energy of the game creates when you do get those,” White said. “But there are some that we can be a little bit more in control of. So, yes, we’ll continue to remind her, and I think she has to have an awareness.”
She also brushed off the incident as something “that … happens” in “a competitive sport.”
“As a group, we have to be able to have our moment and then regroup and play with poise and composure. It can’t continue to go on,” White said.
Dallas Wing guard Paige Bueckers and Golden State Valkyries forward Janelle Salaün are among the other players who have been assessed technical fouls this season for clapping after a play. Neither incidents involved taunting players from the opposing team, and both of those techs have reportedly been rescinded.
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