Caitlin Clark’s Fever teammate NaLyssa Smith starts brawl in Chinese women’s basketball league

Caitlin Clark’s Indiana Fever teammate NaLyssa Smith starred in a bench-clearing skirmish during a match in China on Thursday.

Smith, drafted by the Fever in 2022, is participating in a common practice among WNBA players who go overseas during the offseason to fill the financial holes left by their salaries in the W.

Smith recently signed with the Zhejiang Golden Bulls of the Women’s Chinese Basketball Association (WCBA) after playing in Turkey in recent years and got off to a good start in her first season in East Asia.

Zheijiang was playing against Inner Mongolia in a preseason scrimmage when Smith was elbowed by her defender while fighting for a rebound. In response, the Baylor product aggressively threw the ball at her opponent’s back.

Her response did not go down well with the Inner Mongolia bench, who all rushed to the court to defend their teammate. Tempers seemed to escalate before other players stepped in to diffuse the situation.

Smith just completed her third season at Indiana and plays for the Zhejiang Golden Bulls

The messy tune-up ended with seven technical fouls on both sides. Tensions were high throughout the 40-minute match and reached a breaking point with Smith’s altercation.

Nevertheless, Smith recorded a game-high 20 points and 10 rebounds to help Zheijiang secure a seven-point victory.

In her third year with the Fever, Smith averaged 10.6 points, 5.3 rebounds, an assist and a block per game while starting 37 games for Indiana.

She also played in two games, totaling 13 minutes, as the Fever were swept by Connecticut in the opening round of the WNBA playoffs.

Smith recently removed all ties to the WNBA side from her social media after her friend demanded a trade, citing her dissatisfaction with former coach Christie Sides’ minutes allocation.

Whether or not she will return to Indy with Stephanie White leading the board remains a question.