Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark has been fined $200 for a social media comment criticizing the officiating during her team’s recent playoff series victory against the Atlanta Dream.
Clark shared the news on X, accompanying his post with laughing emojis and a screenshot of a comment on Instagram where he wrote: “The referees couldn’t stop us”.
Her Fever teammate, Sophie Cunningham, also fined several times this season for criticizing the referees, reacted on X: “That’s really going to break the bank! I’m starting a GoFundMe now!”
Officiating was a significant topic of conversation during the first-round series between the No. 6-seeded Fever and the No. 3-seeded Dream. At least 36 fouls were called in each game, including 43 in Game 1.
The Fever finally defeated Atlanta thanks to a comeback victory by 87-85 in the decisive Game 3, with Aliyah Boston scoring the decisive basket with 7.4 seconds remaining in the game. The Fever will face the Las Vegas Aces in the next round, with Game 1 scheduled for Sunday at 3 p.m. ET.Clark, Cunningham, and three other Fever players have had to watch the playoffs from the bench after suffering injuries that prevented them from playing the rest of the season. Damiris Dantas was also out of action during the first round due to a concussion. Her status for the semi-finals is unclear. In the X post, Clark also commented: “THE BANKING WILL BE EVEN NOISIER TOMORROW LET’S GO!”It was an American football game. There were bodies flying all over the place. Frankly, that made basketball very ugly and I think it’s something the league needs to analyze.
Becky Hammon, Aces coach
