'Absolutely unacceptable!': Stephanie White blasts officiating after Caitlin Clark takes hard shots in Fever loss
Clark exited with a back injury in the third quarter of Indiana’s 111-109 loss to Phoenix, and White didn’t hold back afterward about the officiating of her “generational superstar.”
The Indiana Fever suffered a 111-109 loss on Wednesday to the Phoenix Mercury, their second meeting in three games. Kelsey Mitchell scored a game-high 30 points before fouling out with 22 seconds left.
The Fever (10-8) have allowed 100+ points in six of their eight losses this season.
But this game will be remembered for Caitlin Clark exiting the game with a back injury in the third quarter, not returning, and then head coach Stephanie White having her back postgame.
Enough is enough.
“Absolutely unacceptable!” White said.
“We spent all offseason looking at officiating. All offseason. And I still say the one thing that we keep asking for is consistency. (Caitlin Clark) is not called the same way everybody else is called.”
Mercury forward Alyssa Thomas was seen putting her knee to Clark's groin, then fist to throat in the first half; Valeriane Ayayi had a reckless close-out on a 3-point attempt by Clark that was not called either. At least on that one, they went to the monitor. However, they did not upgrade the foul.
“Absolutely disrespectful,” White continued. “We have a generational talent and a WNBA superstar who had two cheap shots right there that weren’t called. And I just say again, absolutely unacceptable.
“The fist in the throat is crazy. It’s crazy. It’s dangerous. The landing spot, when you went to review it, and she still comes down on top of another foot, like, I don’t know. Because to me, that’s like a do-over on a test. How do you screw it up again? And it’s just, when you have these things continue to happen time and time and time and time and time again, eventually it gets frustrating.”
Clark was productive and in a groove before exiting the game with 5:15 left in the third quarter. She finished with 19 points and eight assists in 20 minutes.
Now... how will the league respond? Will they?
Clark is the golden goose, the face of the league, and more. The Fever are disgusted with how she has been treated in many ways, but especially with officiating. Player health is everything and this directly impacts her availability.
I got into all of it in my postgame video report at the top.