Colin Clark, the younger brother of WNBA star Caitlin Clark , pulled no punches when seeking a scapegoat for his sister's injury last night in a game against the Connecticut Sun .
Clark, point guard for the Indiana Fever , has faced a challenging second season in the W, marked by a nagging groin injury and inconsistent shooting.
A lot of her frustration came to the forefront despite her team getting the win. Clark, at one point, had to be restrained during an argument with a referee. And she was later seen in tears when it was apparent the injury continued to linger.
Clark limped off the court after aggravating her injury, prompting her brother, Colin, to publicly criticize the officiating crew. In a now-deleted tweet, Colin blamed the referees for allowing overly physical play against his sister, suggesting it contributed to her injury.
"Make no mistake, this is on the reffing," Clark wrote.
Colin wasn't the only one to come to Caitlin Clark's defense, as Fever coach Stephanie White also made comments after the game regarding the physical play against her number one player.
White raised the ire of fans , though, by suggesting Clark should adjust rather than pointing out that the refs are letting jealous players attack her at will.
"There's a level of physicality that they're able to play with against her," White said, according to ESPN . "I'm not exactly sure why, but it just is what it is, and we've got to help her learn to adjust and use it against them in certain ways."
"We've got to find some ways to make it a little bit easier for her. But the level of physicality overall in our league has been at a different level than it's been for a long time."
She might not be 'exactly sure why,' but Colin is.
Sure, Caitlin Clark can look to avoid contact, but that's not always going to be possible when the rest of the league is playing against you like they're the 'Bad Boy' Detroit Pistons of the late 80s and early 90s.
Alternately, the refs could step in. They've let players go after Clark without leveling them with serious penalties for way too long. Case in point – Sun guard Jacy Sheldon , who had poked Clark in the eye during a game last month, which then prompted teammate Marina Mabrey to slam the league Rookie of the Year to the floor.
Mabrey initially wasn't even hit with a flagrant foul call.
And when you think about it, it was Sun player DiJonai Carrington who similarly poked Clark in the eye during last season's playoffs, leaving her with a noticeable black eye and a tough shooting night. Carrington didn't have a foul called against her despite the obvious physical contact.
The Sun players have seen that they can poke Clark in the eye and truck her right into the floor with little to no consequences. So it's to nobody's surprise that they keep hand-checking and roughing her up until finally an injury occurs.
With a pending work stoppage on the horizon and Caitlin Clark being the lone star in the league that actually puts more butts in seats, the WNBA better figure out a way to handle this situation – and fast.
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