Indiana fever head coach Stephanie White wasn’t happy with the “cheap shots” Phoenix Mercury players allegedly took on star player Caitlin Clark during the rematch last night.
Clark left the game in the third quarter with a back injury, and team PR announced that she had been ruled out for the remainder of the contest.
In the post-game conference call, White expressed his frustration with the situation and called out the “horrible” no calls after a clip showed the Mercury player Alyssa Thomas with his neck to Clark’s neck.
Days before, Caitlin Clark made headlines when she called out WNBA referees for giving her a technical foul during the Fever’s Monday contest.
“I just saw it,” White told the media after their 111-109 loss Thursday night. “I’m not sure if it had any effect on her health or not, but it was egregious,” White told reporters, adding, “The fact that it was a no-call… I brought it to the refs’ attention at halftime, but we still had 11 fouls in the fourth quarter to their two?”
According to White, the Fever have a “generational talent” in Clark, and she was subjected to “absolutely unacceptable … cheap shots” during the competition. “Number one, you have to call it. It’s completely creepy and completely disrespectful,” she continued.
“And then number two, you realize what happened two nights ago and it’s still happening? Totally unacceptable. Totally unacceptable.”
White yells ‘reckless finishing’ that wasn’t upgraded during the postgame conference
White was on fire during the post-game conference and later criticized the “reckless closeout” that was not upgraded during the game.
“… the foot is still coming down on the defender’s foot that wasn’t upgraded? Totally disrespectful. We have a generational talent and a WNBA superstar that had two cheap shots right there that weren’t called. And I’ll just say it again: totally unacceptable,” she said.
Going back to the Mercury’s Thomas, whose fist landed on Clark’s neck during a heated battle for the ball, White called her actions “insane and dangerous.”
“The landing spot? When you went to review it and she still comes down on top of another foot? I don’t know. Because to me it’s like a do-over on a test, how do you screw it up again? When you have these things keep happening over and over and over again, eventually it gets frustrating,” White said.
Caitlin Clark called out WNBA officials in her own postgame interview
While Clark did not speak last night, the Iowa alum criticized league officials earlier this week. During a spirited interaction with the Mercury on Monday, Clark clapped after a foul call and was later given a technical foul. It is her fifth of the season.
“We should all just go on the calendar now and pick a game that I will be suspended for if I get technicals clapped,” Clark said, calling the call “ridiculous,” according to The explosion.
Clark went on to say she asked the official about the technical and was told she received it for inciting and unsportsmanlike conduct.
“I said, ‘OK, you just don’t love competitive basketball, and that’s just the facts, that’s just the reality,'” Clark continued. “So disappointing from them.”
Clark isn’t changing his game
Elsewhere in the interview, Clark said the technical errors would not change her game. She then challenged the league to review the erroneous call and overturn it because she did not believe she did anything wrong.
“I’m going to play with emotion, I’m going to play with passion, and if they want to give me a technical foul to clap, so be it. It’s their choice,” she said. “The league can go back and review that play, and I’d love to hear what they say, the reasoning behind why I got the technical foul in that situation and why other players on their team didn’t get a technical foul in that situation. If anything, break it down. Okay, everybody gets a technical foul, that’s not how they were handed out. I’d love to know.”
I also asked Caitlin Clark if the criticism of her behavior is fair. Her long, thoughtful response included this: “The fire and the passion, that’s what makes me who I am.” pic.twitter.com/DmmqsXK7wv
— Christine Brennan (@cbrennansports) 8 June 2026
Aside from last night’s match, Clark has been the center of attention for the past few weeks due to her demonstrative behavior towards referees and icy interactions with her coaches.
Clark however, responded to the noise, saying her on-court theatrics are part of what makes her a great player.
“I don’t think I would be as good a player if I was very stoic and straight-faced all the time,” she said. “I think basketball is one of the best environments to do that because the fans are right on top of you. You get to see the player you idolize.”
