Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark has been fined $200 for a social media comment where she criticized the refereeing during her team’s playoff series victory against the Atlanta Dream.
Clark shared the news on X (formerly Twitter) with laughing emojis, attaching a screenshot of a comment on Instagram where he wrote: “The referees couldn’t stop us.”The player, who was ruled out for the rest of the season due to an injury on September 4, drew attention to the matter during Saturday’s practice, shouting to reporters from across the gym: “Hey everyone, go see my tweet!”.
Her teammate, Sophie Cunningham, also fined several times this season for criticizing the referees, responded on X: “That’s really going to break the bank!”, and added “Starting a GoFundMe now!”.
Arbitration was a significant conversation topic 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 an 87-85 victory in the decisive Game 3, with Aliyah Boston scoring the go-ahead 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.
It was an American football game. There were bodies flying all the time. Frankly, that made basketball very ugly and I think it’s something the league needs to analyze.
Becky Hammon, Aces coach
Clark, Cunningham, and three other Fever players have had to watch the playoffs from the bench after suffering season-ending injuries. Damiris Dantas was also sidelined during the first round due to a concussion. Her status for the semi-finals is uncertain.
Clark also commented on X: “THE BANK WILL BE EVEN NOISIER TOMORROW LET’S GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!”.
