Saturday’s matchup between the Indiana Fever and the Chicago Sky featured a hard foul from Chennedy Carter on Caitlin Clark that bordered on the line of being a dirty play. But after the game concluded, Carter was in no mood to discuss the foul, or anything related to Clark whatsoever.
The game was physical throughout and had the feel of a high-leverage matchup, with both teams talking trash on the court toward one another.
But things took a bit of a turn at the end of the third quarter. After Carter made a midrange jump shot to cut the Fever lead to four, Clark went to take the inbound pass. Before getting the pass, Carter lowered her shoulder into Clark, knocking her over to the ground.
The entire interaction, including the lead-up possession before the incident, was shared by CJ Folger on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Here's an extended look at the Caitlin Clark – Chennedy Carter incident, there was more to it than the shoulder check and Clark was clearly talking to her on the way back up the floor from the prior basket by Indiana pic.twitter.com/1XG1RyzTw4
— CJ Fogler account may or may not be notable (@cjzero) June 1, 2024
Despite the incident not really being much of a basketball play whatsoever, it was called a common foul after review instead of a flagrant foul.
Just moments after the foul after the quarter ended, Clark was asked about the play in an on-court interview before the start of the fourth quarter. Clark didn’t mince words, saying that it was “not a basketball play”.
“Yeah, that’s just not a basketball play,” Clark said in the interview, transcribed by the New York Post. “But you know I’ve gotta play through it, that’s what basketball is about at this level. I thought we’ve been really physical, we’ve missed some bunnies around the rim, so hopefully those fall in the fourth.”
The Indiana Fever would get the last laugh in the game, coming up with a 71-70 win over the Sky, their first home win of the season.
https://twitter.com/thecomeback/status/1796967708468420983
After the game, naturally, much of the talk surrounding the game was about the foul from Carter. But instead of openly discussing her actions, Carter decided not to answer any questions about Clark or the foul.
“I ain’t answering no Caitlin Clark questions,” said Carter.
Chennedy Carter in the postgame media session, after committing a hard foul on Caitlin Clark:
"I ain’t answering no Caitlin Clark questions."
(via @MatthewByrne1) pic.twitter.com/Jje5X0Epir
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) June 1, 2024
Carter was then asked by the same reporter what Clark said to her before the foul or what Carter said to Clark. Neither question was answered.
However, we actually do know what Carter said to Clark before shoving her to the ground abruptly before the play even started.
In a slow-mo video of Carter moments before lowering her shoulder into Clark, it sure looked like Carter called Clark a “b****” before ultimately hitting her to the ground, albeit you can’t actually hear her say it in any video.
Caitlin Clark gets called a b*tch then decked by Chicago guard, Chennedy Carter, away from the ball.
Does Caitlin need to toughen up, or are the women out to get her- What y’all think? pic.twitter.com/ajKvPQfr91
— Emmanuel Acho (@EmmanuelAcho) June 1, 2024
Given all of the context around the situation, it sure looked like Carter had some malicious intent towards Clark and that this really wasn’t much of a basketball play whatsoever as Clark stated. And Carter’s decision to refuse questions about Clark afterward only confirms that narrative to be true…
