Connecticut Sun guard DiJonai Carrington appeared to criticize Caitlin Clark amid the furor surrounding the WNBA rookie.
Clark has been caught in the middle of controversy since her arrival in the WNBA with aggressive fouls on her dominant starters over the past week.
However, Sun star Carrington seemed to suggest that the Indiana Fever rookie was drawing fouls by overreacting.
During the first half of the Fever’s 72-89 loss to Connecticut on Monday night, Carrington, who finished with 22 points, was called for a foul on the No. 1 draft pick and didn’t seem very impressed with the decision. .
Carrington fouled Clark shortly after the former Iowa star received a pass from teammate Kristy Wallace.
Connecticut Sun guard DiJonai Carrington (right) appeared to attack Caitlin Clark (left).
Clark drove to the basket, but Carrington was late to it thanks to a screen by Aliyah Boston, and collided with the Fever rookie.
The veteran was not happy with the decision and mocked Clark by flailing around to appear to imitate a flop.
However, her own fans turned on her when the home crowd inside Mohegan Sun Arena began booing the Connecticut star for the gesture.
Earlier in the game, Clark had fallen on the court after a collision with Carrington’s teammate Alyssa Thomas.
When Thomas attempted to block Clark as she went in for a three-pointer, the forward’s elbow appeared to catch the Fever star in the chest, sending her tumbling to the court.
However, Thomas was not called for a foul much to the chagrin of Clark, who gestured to the referee, wondering why he went unpunished.
Clark finished with his fourth-fewest points of the season, going 3 of 8 from the field for 10 points, all in the first half. He committed his fourth foul with 4:41 left in the third quarter and did not play in the fourth quarter.
Carrington’s taunt comes a little more than a week after the Fever’s game against the Chicago Sky on June 2 sparked massive controversy surrounding the WNBA.
Clark was brutally controlled by Chennedy Carter, who was called for a flagrant foul.
Carrington appeared to mock Clark by imitating a failure after he was called for a foul.
Early in the game, Clark was not fouled after being knocked to the ground.
The 25-year-old appeared to yell “bitch” at the former Iowa star before throwing her to the ground.
Since then, Carter has come under increasing criticism for his conduct, but speaking on Friday, Clark said it was time to move on.
“No,” he said when asked if Carter should apologize. ‘Basketball is competitive, I understand that.
‘Sometimes emotions overcome you, it happened to me several times throughout my career.
‘People are competitive, it is what it is. He is having a tremendous season, he is playing great basketball.
“She’s been great off the bench for them, I think she scored 25 last night to help them win the game.”
‘It’s just not where my attention is. I think about my team, I think about ways I can improve and at the end of the day it’s just basketball.
‘There are no hard feelings, there is nothing like that. It’s a sport, it’s competitive and it won’t be enjoyable all the time. “That’s not basketball and I think people who play this sport at the highest level understand that.”
Clark was knocked to the ground by Chicago’s Chennedy Carter in a now infamous incident.
Carter said after a practice session on June 3 that he has no regrets about the incident.
“I don’t regret anything,” he said. “I’m going to compete and play 100 percent hard, no matter who it is or who we play against.”
Since then, many fans, experts and coaches have claimed that Clark is being targeted by her WNBA teammates.
More recently, Bill Maher revealed that he believes WNBA rivals are making fun of Clark because she is straight in a “very lesbian” league.
The late-night TV host also claimed that both race and gender play a role after Chicago’s Carter took down Clark.
‘It’s (because) women are malicious, the league is very lesbian and she’s not, and there is race. “There’s a lot going on,” Maher said after the incident, which shocked the sports world.
“There’s also a racial element to this… it’s not always racism when a white person is successful.”
DailyMail.com columnist Tim Howard argued that Clark is the victim of jealous race-baiting bullies.
Meanwhile, A’ja Wilson of the Las Vegas Aces is among those who have suggested that the Indiana star receives preferential treatment because she is white.
“The women are catty, the league is very lesbian and she’s not, and there’s race too,” Bill Maher said.
“No matter what we all do as black women, we’re still going to be swept under the rug,” she said.
Clark’s teammates have also been criticized for not providing the No. 1 draft pick more protection on the court. Maher echoed those sentiments, suggesting that “only women would do this.”
“If they were men, they would defend each other on the same team,” Maher said Friday.
‘Men will fight on two teams, but when someone checks on you who is on your team, you defend that guy. I’m just saying that men have their bad parts. We are toxic. We are dogs. Only women would do this.’
