INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Conversations about whether Caitlin Clark is getting officiated fairly in the WNBA can be polarizing as fans, players, coaches, pundits and even lawmakers have opinions about whether the league needs to take some action about the physical play.
Congress is looking for answers by July 24.
“Millions of casual fans now tune in to watch her play,” 11 members of the House Republican Study Committee wrote in a letter sent to WNBA Commissioner
Cathy Englebert. “Unfortunately, what they too often witness is not simply aggressive competition, but repeated acts of physical hostility and violence. Clark has been hip-checked, poked in the eye and struck in the throat during games.
"These incidents go far beyond routine physical play, yet the WNBA and its officiating have too often failed to address these unacceptable incidents and hold players accountable.”
It's the latest chapter in the Clark saga about whether league officials must do more to protect one of the WNBA's top players from unnecessarily aggressive physical contact.
The letter was sent two weeks after Phoenix Mercury forward Alyssa Thomas made contact with her fist to Clark’s throat in a June 24 game. Thomas was not called for a foul on the play during the game, but the league subsequently upgraded the play to a flagrant foul and suspended her one game for “recklessly making contact with her fist.”
League officials have not yet issued a statement in response to the letter.
Thomas has called the play a “complete accident," adding that she has received death threats since the incident. Clark and her coach, Stephanie White, an ardent defender of Clark, have condemned threats levied at Thomas.
The 24-year-old Iowa alum has helped increase WNBA ticket sales and driven women’s basketball television ratings to unprecedented heights with her play.
However, many conversations around her tap into a variety of combustible hot-button topics, including race, officiating, money and politics. Clark has largely managed to thrive, but can't completely escape the noise.
“I think sometimes people think I’m a robot. I’m not a robot,” she said. “It can be really frustrating to me at times. I’m 24 years old trying to navigate a lot. I’ve been in this world for four years now — and you would never change any of it — but there are times that it is hard. And there are times when it affects me a little bit more than I do put on. I think it’s important that people remember that part of it, too.”
Lawmakers also suggested in their letter that government agencies such as the Department of Justice should investigate if discrimination or retaliation are creating a hostile work environment in the WNBA.
Fever officials said in a statement that neither Clark nor team officials have been in contact with the Congressional group and that they were unaware of the letter before its release.
“We have been clear in our public comments and in our ongoing dialogue with the league about the priority of player safety,” the statement read. “Our players and our fans know where we stand on those issues, and we will continue to stick up for our team and a standard of excellence across the league.”
Clark is one of the league’s most popular players, but she’s also one of the most polarizing — even amongst her peers.
Fans made her the No. 2 vote-getter for next week’s All-Star Game while Clark’s fellow players ranked her 11th among league guards — something three-time WNBA champ and Hall of Famer Candace Parker took exception with.
“If you’re sitting down and putting Caitlin Clark as the 11th best guard ... y’all need to go to a therapist and figure out what childhood issues you have,” Parker wrote on social media.
Clark instantly became the face of the league from the moment she was drafted first overall in 2024, before ever playing a pro game and even though she had not won an NCAA championship.
To accommodate her rampant fan base, opponents moved games from home arenas to larger venues which generated more revenue. And Fever games quickly became a regular feature on national television even after Indiana missed the playoffs from 2016-23.
Clark supporters say her immediate notoriety created resentment among WNBA veterans and has led to the hard fouls that cross the line.
Opponents counter that because of Clark's ability to shoot the ball and beat opponents with her ball-handling, players defending her try to be as physical as a referee will allow to slow her down.
Following the game on June 24, Fever coach Stephanie White angrily expressed players had crossed the line multiple times and highlighted two no-calls. The 6-foot, 157-pound Clark eventually left in the second half with a back injury that kept her out of the next two games.
Clark returned to action Wednesday night but was not expected to play Thursday night at Phoenix as a precaution.
The subject of race also has been injected into the Clark debate. White and Clark are both white; Thomas is Black.
“Because the bandwagon and the fandom became so obsessed with the whole thing, it turned into a cause,” said UConn coach Geno Auriemma, who has won a record 12 NCAA women's basketball championships. Clark, he added, “became the reason why white players get beat up in the WNBA and she became the reason why Black players don’t get the endorsements and don’t get the adulation that white players get.”
The coach noted that, "Not every foul is a good foul. Not every foul’s a bad foul, but there are fouls that are flagrant — but that’s all they are.”
Clark has repeatedly attempted to downplay the noise surrounding her.
But she also has played a part in this ongoing storyline, showing her passion by throwing her arms in the air when she's unhappy with calls, exaggerating contact as a tactic to draw fouls and critiquing refs when she doesn't get one.
Clark is also among the leading trash-talkers in the WNBA. When she gets the better of an opponent, she isn’t shy about letting them know about it. Clark is averaging a career-high 20.5 points per game while ranking second in the league in assists with 7.9 — trailing only Thomas (8.3).
Part of Clark’s appeal is her antagonistic style.
However, there can be a price to pay: She has drawn five technical fouls this season, the most recent coming June 22 against Phoenix when she started clapping after a heated exchange with Mercury forward and former Fever teammate DeWanna Bonner, who also is Black. Booner and Thomas are engaged.
Players receive a one-game suspension when they reach eight technicals and Clark told reporters in that postgame news conference someone should pick a date for her suspension if clapping results in a technical foul.
All-Star center Aliyah Boston, who wants to ensure Clark stays on the court, said on her “Post Moves” podcast that she told her teammate: "We’re done. We’re done clapping. There’s no more claps. There’s nothing else to clap about."
It's more likely, though, that Clark and her fans will continue clapping — and her critics will keep clapping back.
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