The WNBA Needs To Do More To Protect Caitlin Clark

Caitlin Clark feels like she’s “getting hammered” just 10 games into her WNBA career. And her admitting that is not good.

By now, the clip of Chicago Sky guard Chennedy Carter body-checking Clark has gone viral on social media. Everyone is pitching in their two cents on the situation.

NBA tough guy turned TV personality Draymond Green has said that the Indiana Fever need an enforcer. Former NBA player Matt Barnes said Clark’s teammates need to stand up for her when these hard fouls happen.

But Fever GM Lin Dunn has the correct take on this situation.

“There’s a difference between tough defense and unnecessary— targeting actions! It needs to stop!” Dunn wrote on X. “The league needs to “cleanup” the crap! That’s NOT who this league is!!”

While rivalries are healthy, it feels a bit toxic that we’re discussing fouls instead of celebrating the Fever’s wire-to-wire win over the Sky. Speaking of toxic, Sky rookie Angel Reese popped up off of Chicago’s bench, seemingly applauding and congratulating Carter for the hard foul.

The WNBA does need to step in here and clean up the crap. By now, there should be no denying that there’s some sort of unspoken, unwritten target on Clark’s back. That part of it is partially fine. In sports, we often see superstar rookies be humbled with “welcome to the league” moments.

Remember when Michael Sam sacked Johnny Manziel and immediately flashed the infamous money hand gesture to the crowd over the rookie QB’s body still laying on the field? 

But just 10 games into the season, it seems like some WNBA players really have it out for Clark. This is women’s basketball, not professional football. And the league needs to step in to prevent a serious injury to their most influential star. To a complete outsider, some of these women appear to genuinely despise Clark, especially when Carter started liking anti-Clark tweets after the foul. That's probably not the best look for the league.

At the very least, the league should send a memo to its teams on what constitutes “a good hard foul” and what’s crossing the line. The next big-time, viral foul on Clark should probably result in a suspension, sending a message to avoid hunting the WNBA’s prized rookie. 

Clark’s frustration is showing itself on the floor, too, and she’s dangerously close to a suspension herself. She already has three technical fouls of her own on the season. Three more would result in a suspension from the WNBA. There’s 30 more games in the regular season.

On Sunday morning, the WNBA increased Carter’s foul from a common foul to a Flagrant 1 as well as fining Angel Reese for not showing up to the postgame interview. Carter wasn’t fined for her foul, but Reese was fined $1,000 for not fulfilling media obligations.

The Fever will visit the 6-2 New York Liberty on Sunday night. Let’s keep our fingers crossed for no more incidents.