The WNBA appears to be stepping in after Wednesday night’s incident between Caitlin Clark and a fan sitting courtside.
During the first quarter of the Indiana Fever’s season-ending loss to the Connecticut Sun, play briefly had to be stopped while the Fever superstar Clark pointed out a fan to the referees. The refs then alerted arena security, who approached a man wearing a collared shirt and lanyard in order to have a conversation with him.
Here is the video.
Security had a conversation with a fan after Caitlin Clark pointed them out to the ref. pic.twitter.com/N6RCnAv1qz
— ESPN (@espn) September 26, 2024
Video also circulated of Clark seemingly telling Fever teammate NaLyssa Smith what the fan had supposedly said to her. Smith had a very strong reaction to what Clark told her.
NaLyssa Smith's reaction after hearing what a fan said to Caitlin Clark
pic.twitter.com/hL6jjrmPKX https://t.co/qGGyoGWZeo
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) September 26, 2024
After the game, the WNBA issued a statement in apparent response to the incident. While they mentioned neither Clark nor the incident in question, the WNBA stated they would not tolerate “racist, threatening, or derogatory comments about players, teams, and anyone affiliated with the league.” The statement added that “appropriate measures,” including possibly involving law enforcement, would be enacted to address any “threat-related activity.”
You can read the full WNBA statement below.
— WNBA (@WNBA) September 26, 2024
It is unclear what exactly the fan may have said to Clark or if he even ended up getting ejected from the game. But the WNBA clearly wants to draw a line in the sand to curb any sort of future behavior like that.
Clark and the Fever were eliminated from the playoffs with their eventual 87-81 loss to the Sun on Wednesday. It was an overall frustrating way for Clark’s phenomenal rookie season to end as she was hit with multiple blatant fouls that went uncalled.
