- Caitlin Clark quickly drew two fouls against her in her Indiana Fever debut
- It meant the WNBA’s No. 1 pick sat for the second half of the first quarter of the game.
Dave Portnoy was left fuming just minutes into Caitlin Clark’s Indiana Fever debut, with the WNBA’s newest star benched after two questionable fouls in the first five minutes.
Clark was twice judged to have fouled Alyssa Thomas in early exchanges, prompting coach Christie Sides to take her off the court to reduce the risk of her reaching six and fouling. Clark could be heard yelling “that’s not a foul” after the second penalty.
Portnoy, and many fans watching at home, felt Sides had no choice after what they felt were terrible officiating decisions at a sold-out Mohegan Sun Arena.
The Barstool Sports founder took to started the game.” ‘How stupid are you?’
Many opted for X and followed suit by blaming the referees. One said: “These referees at the Fever-Sun game need to understand how important Caitlin Clark’s debut is and be sacked after the game.”
Caitlin Clark was benched early in her Indiana Fever debut for two questionable fouls.
Dear @WNBA no one is watching to see if Caitlin Clark is on the bench, so maybe tell your idiot referees not to call two tactical fouls on her 5 seconds into the game. How stupid are you?
– Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) May 14, 2024
It was a rough start for Clark as the Fever took on the Connecticut Sun at Mohegan Sun Arena.
“Sold out crowd, biggest TV audience in WNBA history and they hit it with 2 bulls***, phantom fouls in the first 5 million.” You could even hear the televisions changing channels.’
Another said: “I’m sure the WNBA is thrilled that their refs called two questionable fouls on Caitlin Clark and benched her not even halfway through the first quarter on opening night.”
“It probably lost 70% of its audience before the first commercial break.”
A different fan wrote: ‘Great first quarter for the WNBA… more people watching opening night than maybe ever before, and the refs call two fouls on Caitlin Clark in the first five minutes and she spends the next five on the bench.
“No matter the sport, referees apparently can’t help themselves.”
But while the referees let fans down, Fever coach Christie Sides felt it was a problem for her team.
“We’re committing too many fouls,” he told ESPN between the first and second quarters. The Connecticut Sun led 19-13 after the first quarter.
After starting the game 0-4, Clark got his first basket midway through the second quarter and seemed to grow into the game as it went on.