Caitlin Clark is told she’s ‘disrespectful to the game’ by referee – but Fever star reveals why she wants to THANK him
When Caitlin Clark became so frustrated during Sunday’s match against Seattle Storm, the referee not only blew the whistle, but also deemed her reaction a disgrace to the match.
Despite the Indiana Fever taking the lead in the third quarter, Clark struggled to get her shots off. To add insult to injury, an innocent gesture to blow off steam led to referee Tyler Ricks issuing a technical foul to the rookie, giving fans something to scratch their heads about.
Despite this, the Fever went on to win 92-75 at home. As for Clark, she had a seemingly sarcastic response when asked about the call after the game.
“I got a technical kick because I was mad at myself for missing a three-pointer,” Clark said.
“And then I hit the backboard, and he said that was disrespectful to the game of basketball.”
Caitlin Clark was told by a referee during Sunday’s match that she was ‘disrespectful to the game’
Clark had just eight points on the board when she rose for a 29-foot three-point jump shot with 7:14 left in the third. When her shot bounced off the backboard, the rookie’s emotions spilled onto the court.
Frustrated, Clark slammed a right hammer into the upright. Her human reaction and competitive nature, however, had a negative connotation in Ricks’ eyes.
“It reminded me of the engineering test I had in college where I said, ‘Damn,’ and it felt like a personal frustration,” Clark added.[It] Had nothing to do with my team, had nothing to do with the referee, had nothing to do with the other team. It’s just because I’m a competitor.
“But I think he encouraged me to keep playing a lot harder,” she added. “I thought we got a lot better after that. I want to thank him for that.
“But overall, I thought when we hit that media timeout around the five-minute mark in the third quarter, we all caught our breath. It was chaos out there for two and a half minutes.”
Officially, Tyler Ricks Clark was given a technical foul for hitting the upright after missing a three-pointer
Clark struggled for most of the game, her response coming from missing a 29-foot jump shot
The rookie later found her rhythm and finished the game with 23 points to help Fever win
While her tone contained a hint of sarcasm, her comments were matter-of-fact as she found her rhythm late in the game to score 23 points, making 9 of 19 field goals and 3 of 10 three-pointers. She also recorded five rebounds and broke the WNBA record for most assists by a rookie.
Clark, who started the season with 223 assists, added nine more to break the record with 12 games remaining until the playoffs.
The previous record was held by Ticha Penicheiro, who recorded 225 assists for the Sacramento Monarchs in 1998.
With a triple-double, Clark would have had at least ten assists, had it not been for Mitchell’s horrific miss on an open layup in the first quarter.
However, Mitchell made up for his miss by scoring a game-high 27 points to help Indiana move to 13-15 on the season.
Clark broke the WNBA record for most assists by a rookie in Indiana’s win over Seattle
Clark broke the record previously held by Ticha Penicheiro with her 225th assist of the season
The Fever have won their last two games and will play the Minnesota Lynx and Atlanta Dream on the road on August 24 and 26.
Indiana is seventh in the league and third in the Eastern Conference.
“I think I could have gotten my composure back, but that’s the fire and the passion that just drives me,” Clark continued. “It’s just finding a way to channel that, use that, and I think I did a really good job of that at the end of the third quarter, beginning of the fourth quarter.”
Clark has now committed five technical fouls this season, putting her just two T’s away from an automatic one-game suspension.