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Louise Thomas
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Caitlin Clark had an intense interaction with a fan in the middle of a WNBA playoff game.
Clark and the Indiana Fever played against the Connecticut Sun at the Mohegan Sun Arena on Wednesday, September 25, when ESPN’s broadcast showed Clark going up to the referees and pointing out a fan that was sitting courtside towards the end of the first quarter.
Shortly after, security guards were seen walking up to the fan and escorting him towards the back of the stadium.
After the first quarter ended, a reporter asked Clark how she stays calm but also addresses potential issues during a game. “I’m calling you ‘Spicy Caitlin’ tonight,” ESPN reporter Holly Rowe said about the point guard. “I see you get into it with a fan, with the ref. How do you maintain your composure but still keep your edge?”
“Stay focused about what’s on the floor,” Clark replied. “My four other teammates that are right here with me. I think that’s the most important.”
A reporter later posted on X (formerly Twitter) that “the fan is back in his seat now after a discussion with arena security.”
The Fever lost the game with a final score of 81 to 87, thus marking an end to Clark’s rookie season in the WNBA.
The WNBA posted a statement on Instagram regarding fan behavior at games. “While we welcome a growing fan base, the WNBA will not tolerate racist, derogatory, or threatening comments made about players, teams, and anyone affiliated with the league,” the statement read.
“League security is actively monitoring threat-related activity and will work directly with teams and arenas to take appropriate measures, to include involving law enforcement, as necessary.”
The fan interaction wasn’t the only chippy moment of the game. During a post-game press conference, the Sun player Alyssa Thomas and the team’s coach Stephanie White spoke about Fever fans making racist and homophobic comments about other players on social media throughout the entire women’s basketball season.
“It’s been a lot of nonsense,” Thomas told reporters. “I think that in my 11-year career, I never experienced the racial comments like from the Indiana Fever fanbase.”
“It’s unacceptable and honestly there’s no place for it. We’ve been professional throughout the whole, entire thing, but I’ve never been called the things that I’ve been called on social media, and there’s no place for it.”
She continued: “Basketball is headed in a great direction, but we don’t want fans that are going to degrade us and call us racial things. “
Fever head coach Christie Sides echoed that her players have also received “a lot of hurtful, hateful” messages. “It’s unacceptable for any of these guys,” Sides said.
Although Clark and her team lost during the first round of the playoffs, she revealed that she currently doesn’t have any off-season plans.
“I was focused on beating the Connecticut Sun, I hadn’t thought too far down the line,” Clark said. “I don’t know what I’m going to do tomorrow, I don’t know what I’m going to do the next day. Maybe play some golf. I think that’s what I’m gonna do until it becomes too cold in Indiana. I’ll become a professional golfer.”
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