The fact that we’re talking about the WNBA for once is because of one person and one person only: Caitlin Clark.
Usually, if someone else is in the equation, it’s because of how they relate to the former University of Iowa star and Indiana Fever rookie. It’s almost never in a good way, either.
That’s doubly true when you consider Chennedy Carter, the troubled Chicago Sky player who’s now best known for a brutal hip-check on Clark during a game this past weekend, one which has raised the question as to whether the No. 1 draft pick is being targeted by the league’s veterans and whether or not race is playing a factor in it.
Even former Fox News and current SiriusXM host Megyn Kelly noted that the foul wasn’t a good look on the league, saying that players should stop “miring themselves in blinding envy of” Clark and “try to be more like her.”
In case you haven’t seen it — and really, where have you been hiding? — this was the foul in question:
Chennedy Carter scores and gives a shoulder to Caitlin Clarkpic.twitter.com/nQxkw1rvhH
— ✶ Ⓜ️ ▶️ ✶ (@_MarcusD3_) June 1, 2024
To make things more problematic, Carter could be seen mouthing a word that looked an awful lot like “b****” when the play was viewed from the front — although, in fairness, I’m not particularly adept at lip-reading.
What’s going on here @WNBA? Chennedy Carter pushes Caitlin Clark while calling her a b**** and Angel Reese jumps off the bench and applauds Carter. Then Reese clothes lines Clark to the floor, Reese says something to her. Perhaps the same one word syllable Kennedy used? pic.twitter.com/XNhQG2CR2h
— I am Legend (@Grannytologist) June 1, 2024
Are you a fan of Caitlin Clark?
After the 71-70 loss to Clark’s Fever on Saturday night, Carter told reporters, “I ain’t answering no Caitlin Clark questions.” She revised this policy during Monday’s practice, insisting that the hard foul was merely competition.
“Now that it’s another day, I’ve had an off day, now I can answer your questions, and I can let you know how I really feel about things,” Carter said.
“But I’m a competitor, and I’m going to compete no matter who you are and no matter who’s in front of me,” she continued. “We’re getting at it. We’re going back and forth. It’s basketball. It’s all hoops. After we finish the game, it’s all love.”
“I don’t have any regrets with anything,” she added. “I’m going to compete and play 100 percent hard no matter who it is, like I said, or who we’re playing.
“No, I don’t have any regrets.”
Chennedy Carter talks about the flagrant foul of Caitlin Clark and whether Chennedy has any regrets. pic.twitter.com/F01rtgYfwk
— SoundOFF (@SoundOFF13) June 3, 2024
For anyone who’s tuning into the game hoping to see good clean competition, this isn’t a good look — and, as Kelly noted, WNBA players may be better trying to emulate Clark than trying to foul her out of rage for the attention that she’s getting.
“Instead of taking cheap shots at Caitlin Clark and miring themselves in blinding envy of her, they should try to be more like her,” Kelly wrote on X, linking to a Mediaite story about the foul and the aftermath of it.
“They’d play better and their lives would improve,” she added.
Instead of taking cheap shots at Caitlin Clark and miring themselves in blinding envy of her, they should try to be more like her. They’d play better and their lives would improve. https://t.co/zhAYvetmkF
— Megyn Kelly (@megynkelly) June 2, 2024
This is especially true for Carter, who has played her way off of two WNBA teams already thanks to conduct issues.
However, even if you aren’t Chennedy Carter, it also serves as a general reminder that complaining you don’t get the same attention as Clark does isn’t as effective as, you know, getting the attention by outplaying her.
Chennedy Carter can’t do it. Neither can Angel Reese, Clark’s top rival in college and another Chicago Sky player who beclowned herself by celebrating the hard off-ball foul Carter dished out from the sidelines.
This isn’t hockey from the 1970s; nobody’s tuning in to watch a bunch of enforcers duke it out. In this case, it isn’t even over protecting one’s teammate, as hockey fights tend to be about, but “blinding envy,” as Kelly pointed out.
At long last, the WNBA has sports fans watching it. That should have players celebrating Clark, not violently jealous over the attention she’s getting. Not all attention is good attention — something that the players of the Chicago Sky are quickly finding out.
