WNBA legend Sheryl Swoopes took situation with the discourse each time Indiana Fever rookie Caitlin Clark is fouled and pointed to what occurred Sunday with Chicago Sky ahead Angel Reese.
Reese clocked Clark on the pinnacle whereas Clark was driving to the basket for a lay-up. Reese was given a foul, and it was upgraded to a flagrant-1. It kick-started a firestorm throughout social media.
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Caitlin Clark, #22 of the Indiana Fever, and Angel Reese, #5 of the Chicago Sky, look on throughout a sport at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on June 16, 2024 in Indianapolis. (Emilee Chinn/Getty Pictures)
Swoopes, who appeared on former NBA star Gilbert Arenas’ podcast “Gil’s Enviornment,” stated followers and people speaking concerning the WNBA can’t look like Clark was assaulted.
“It’s the clip they wanna submit as a result of they’re gonna get all these likes and reposts, however that’s a basketball play,” Swoopes stated of Reese’s foul. “She hit her on the pinnacle, so, after all, it must be upgraded to a flagrant-1 … Can we maintain enjoying basketball?
“My factor is, each time Caitlin will get fouled we are able to’t make it look like she was assaulted. Fouling is part of basketball. You possibly can have a look at a complete lot of various video games and gamers and clips. … A’ja Wilson once they performed Dallas, A’ja had a bloody nostril, a black eye. Like, it’s basketball.”
Swoopes then pointed to each Reese and Clark, saying the foul was only a basketball play.
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San Francisco mayor London Breed chats with basketball nice Sheryl Swoopes, proper, following a press convention to announce an enlargement WNBA franchise within the San Francisco Bay Space at Chase Heart in San Francisco on Oct. 5, 2023. (D. Ross Cameron-USA TODAY Sports activities)
“You go to social media and, ‘Oh my goodness she’s making an attempt to take her out, she must be suspended,’ and who’re you? And what did you do?”
Reese maintained there was nothing extra to the Clark foul.
“I can not management the refs, and so they affected the sport, clearly, quite a bit tonight,” Reese stated after the sport. “Y’all are most likely going to play that clip like 20 instances earlier than Monday.”
“I believe we went up actually sturdy plenty of instances and did not get plenty of calls,” Reese added. “Going again and searching, I’ve seen plenty of calls that weren’t made, I suppose some folks get a particular whistle.”
Clark downplayed the foul.
Caitlin Clark, #22 of the Indiana Fever, warms up earlier than a sport towards the Chicago Sky at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on June 16, 2024 in Indianapolis. (Emilee Chinn/Getty Pictures)
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“It’s what it’s, you understand, she’s making an attempt to make a play on the ball and get the block,” Clark stated. “I imply it occurs after which these free throws when you need to shoot with no one on the line are sort of arduous. So I used to be simply specializing in making these free throws.”
The Related Press contributed to this report.
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