In what is becoming an all too common occurrence, Caitlin Clark was viciously attacked by an opposing player on the basketball court.
On Saturday, Clark and the Indiana Fever faced off against her college nemesis, Angel Reese, who plays for the Chicago Sky. The game was hard-fought, literally. The Chicago Sky’s Chennedy Carter scored a basket late in the third quarter. As the Fever were preparing to inbound the ball, Carter left the player she was guarding, ran up to Clark, and knocked her to the ground while calling her a “b*tch.”
Carter was immediately penalized for the foul. After the quarter, Clark was asked about the foul.
“Yeah, that’s just not a basketball play,” Clark said. “But you know, I’ve gotta play through it; that’s what basketball is about at this level. I thought we’ve been really physical; we’ve missed some bunnies around the rim, so hopefully those fall in the fourth.”
After the game, Carter was asked about her attack on Clark.
“I ain’t answering any Caitlin Clark questions,” she said.
Clark is correct that Carter’s hit was not a basketball play. She’s wrong to say that the hit is somehow representative of basketball “at this level.” No, unprovoked assault is not a part of basketball in the WNBA, NBA, or any other level of basketball. Clark has been repeatedly victimized by hard fouls throughout the season. The fact that the WNBA allows their biggest star to be viciously hit is beyond embarrassing.
And even if the league can’t be convinced to act based on the morality of what is happening to Clark. They should at least be motivated by the fact that if Clark were to get hurt, all this newfound interest in their extremely bad league would immediately disappear.
Either that or the Fever will have to hire a goon to protect their star.