Michael Gonzales/NBAE via Getty Images
Many basketball fans were excited to see a budding rivalry between the Chicago Sky’s Angel Reese and Indiana Fever’s Caitlin Clark blossom this year, but another Sky player is building a duel of her own with the 2024 No. 1 overall pick.
Chicago’s Chennedy Carter was retroactively assessed a flagrant 1 foul for her hip check on Clark during Sunday’s 71-70 defeat.
She declined to address the sequence in her postgame press conference but subsequently made her feelings toward Clark very clear on social media.
In one reply on Threads, Carter criticized the rookie’s game:
Nicole Auerbach @NicoleAuerbach
pic.twitter.com/ulVucPtoMB
“Beside three point shooting what does she bring to the table man,” Carter wrote.
In another, she called Reese “my dawg fasho” after the forward appeared to cheer from the bench after the contact:
Courtesy of Threads
NBA star Draymond Green, meanwhile, argued the Fever need someone to defend Clark:
Vanshay Murdock 🎥🎥 @VanshayM
Draymond Green has entered the chat… #WNBA pic.twitter.com/aiPXGnSFmm
Carter also addressed the talk of an “enforcer” on Twitter:
H O L L Y W O O D 🛬 @ChennedyCarter
we grown asf & y’all talking about enforcer 😂 man gtfoh , hoop or shut up ….
Carter’s foul immediately became the symbol for two larger narratives that have quickly formed around WNBA discourse: Older veterans “hate” Clark and the league is in effect allowing those players to take liberties toward the rookie by not cracking down on foul calls.
Carter’s remarks on Clark will certainly help to fuel the first storyline.
Her attitude isn’t all that exceptional, though. No matter the sport, no matter the league, more experienced players are bound to carry a chip on their shoulder when they go up against younger peers. That’s especially true when a rookie has as much hype as Caitlin Clark.
Nick Van Exel @vanexel31
I didn’t hear none of y’all crying when @GaryPayton pushed me across the court my rook yr in preseason. 🤣😂🤣😂
LeBron James got it from some of his own teammates on the Cleveland Cavaliers when he entered the NBA in 2003. There’s an entire legend built around a handful of NBA stars “freezing out” Michael Jordan at the 1985 All-Star Game.
Rookies always have to earn their stripes and Clark is no different.
The extent to which this has already blown up is a good example of why the WNBA would benefit from some interpersonal drama on the court, too. It’s good when players or teams are feuding in a way that doesn’t cross a clear line.
Matt Ellentuck @mellentuck
[whispering]
im enjoying the wnba basketball beefs
beefs are fun
that’s all ive got here
Richard Deitsch @richarddeitsch
Every WNBA person– players, former players, broadcasters etc.., — I’ve spoken with over the past two years have said that the league needs rivalries to take another step. You are seeing it form. https://t.co/Gp2GbCuqi6
Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi were interconnected throughout their careers, but that always felt less like a rivalry and more a game of one-upmanship between friends. The Los Angeles Sparks and Minnesota Lynx, meanwhile, had a captivating struggle spanning multiple years, but the intrigue has since faded with both franchises falling out of title contention.
It’s doubtful Carter and Clark will develop any sort of lasting antagonism. Sunday’s game at least ensured the return matchup between Chicago and Indiana on June 16 will be appointment viewing.d
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