Count Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham among the many women’s basketball personalities frustrated by the way Caitlin Clark is officiated. Cunningham gave her thoughts on the hard fouls leveled her teammate, accusing other teams of “targeting” Clark and saying the league and refs “do nothing to protect her.”
Cunningham made those comments on the most recent episode of her podcast “Show Me Something.” Cunningham and her co-host, West Wilson, discussed the Clark situation right at the top of the show.
The discussion mostly focused on an incident from Wednesday’s contest, in which Phoenix Mercury forward Alyssa Thomas used her fist to press down on Clark’s neck. No fouls were issued at the time and the play was not reviewed. Clark later left the contest — a 111-109 Fever loss — due to a back injury. Thomas was later suspended for one game by the WNBA for the incident.
In the moment, Thomas’ actions didn’t draw much attention from Clark or the Fever. That’s because, as Cunningham explained, the team didn’t see what happened.
“During real-time … I did not see that happen,” Cunningham said. “None of our team saw it happen because, I promise you, if we would have seen that happen, we would have had her back.
“Unfortunately, this type of s*** happens every single game to her and the league and the refs do absolutely nothing about it.”
“During real-time … I did not see that happen,” Cunningham said. “None of our team saw it happen because, I promise you, if we would have seen that happen, we would have had her back.
“Unfortunately, this type of s*** happens every single game to her and the league and the refs do absolutely nothing about it.”
When gently warned that she could receive a fine for her comments, Cunningham pushed back on the idea, saying the videos prove she’s right.
“You see the videos of, like, literally kneeing and [giving Clark a cheap shot] in the throat. If she did that to any of our teammates, we would be pissed. They are definitely targeting her and the league and the refs do nothing to protect her.”
“You see the videos of, like, literally kneeing and [giving Clark a cheap shot] in the throat. If she did that to any of our teammates, we would be pissed. They are definitely targeting her and the league and the refs do nothing to protect her.”
Cunningham is far from the only person to weigh in on the issue. After the contest, Fever coach Stephanie White called the way Clark is officiated “absolutely unacceptable.” WNBA legend Lisa Leslie agreed, saying the league “has to do better.”
Mercury coach Nate Tibbetts took a different track, as one might expect. Tibbetts said he was disappointed in Thomas’ one-game suspension, claiming the league did not perform a “thorough investigation” into the situation.
Thomas’ actions did eventually earn her a flagrant foul once the WNBA stepped in.
That play came just a few days after the Fever and Mercury engaged in a chippy game, in which six technical fouls were called and one player was ejected. Clark — and the way she is officiated — was at the center of that game as well.
After missing Saturday’s game with a back injury, Clark will hope to return the next time the Fever take the court, which is July 5. Shortly after that, the Fever and Mercury are set to square off again. Unless cooler heads prevail before then, that could prove to be another extremely physical matchup.
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