Caitlin Clark gets shoved to the ground and her coach is mad no one was ejected for it, a breakdown
What Happened
In a highly anticipated WNBA matchup, Indiana Fever point guard Caitlin Clark is having a back-and-forth battle with Chicago Sky guard Jaycee Sheldon. The game is tight, with both teams fighting for position in the standings. Early in the fourth quarter, Caitlin Clark is called for a questionable foul, which she adamantly disagrees with. "I didn't touch her at all," Clark says to the officials, pleading her case. Replays show there was indeed no contact, but the foul call stands, and both teams convert their free throws. On the next possession, the physicality ratchets up as Caitlin Clark and Jaycee Sheldon battle for position at the top of the key. Sheldon swipes her hand across Clark's face, appearing to poke her in the eye. Clark reacts in pain, and Sheldon then gives her a slight shove, sending Clark tumbling to the floor. The officials review the play, ultimately issuing a Flagrant 1 foul on Sheldon for the initial contact. However, the Indiana Fever head coach is incensed, arguing that Sheldon should have been ejected for the subsequent shove. "It should have been an ejection," the coach says. "You spent that much time looking at the replay and you didn't even look at the shove?" Undeterred, Caitlin Clark calmly steps to the free-throw line and drains all three attempts. The game continues to be a physical, back-and-forth affair, with Sheldon and Clark jawing at each other throughout. Late in the fourth quarter, with the game still in the balance, Chicago's Sophie Cunningham takes matters into her own hands. As Sheldon and Clark are matched up, Cunningham rushes in and violently shoves Sheldon to the floor, then leans in and screams in her face. "Do something about it," Cunningham yells, grabbing Sheldon's head. Officials quickly step in and issue Cunningham a Flagrant 2 foul, resulting in her ejection from the game. Despite the chippy play, Caitlin Clark remains composed, hitting a clutch three-pointer to seal the victory for the Indiana Fever. As the final seconds tick away, Clark ushers her teammates off the court, eager to put the heated rivalry behind them.
Full Transcript
Click timestamps to jump to that momentLots of fun and drama in this WNBA game.
This happened a while ago.
Everyone requested it.
I appreciate you.
The Dodgers and Padres decided to fight for four games,
so it got pushed and pushed and pushed.
But here we go.
It's brought to you by DraftKings,
and I'm going to open up with this,
which I hadn't seen from all the highlights on social media
and all that.
Right before the main event,
Kaitlyn Clark gets called for a foul here,
and she runs over.
She's like, I didn't touch her.
I didn't touch her.
And they're saying, well, look at it.
We'll look at it.
We'll look at it.
We'll look at it.
She's like, well, look at it.
And she's right.
There's no contact made.
She gets called for the foul.
Watch this replay right here.
Just no contact made.
Gets called for the foul.
She tells the ref.
She says, oh, my God.
Watch it back after the game.
Trust me.
You'll see.
Yeah.
I didn't touch at all.
Watch.
Actually, watch it right now.
Look up.
There it is.
So that happened.
They make both of their free throws,
and then Indiana's got the ball,
and it's the next possession, right?
After she doesn't touch someone and gets the foul,
then you got Kaylin Clark with the ball,
banging around top of the key.
Her and J.C. Sheldon just banging around,
and then she's going to take a finger to the eye
and then gets bumped and then gets sent to the ground.
Oh!
She can't believe it.
What the fuck?
What?
Are you kidding me?
I just got fouled for not touching someone,
and they just tore my eyes.
I just tore my eyeball out and banged me to the ground.
So we'll slow down and enhance this.
It's a thumb swipe to the eye and the bridge of the nose,
and then J.C. walks up to her and kind of leans in a little,
straightens up, throws the belly at her, right?
Just like, boom, just a little bump,
and she's like, God, stop.
And then number three, Marina Mabry just sends her to the ground.
So there's a little bump from Sheldon,
and then blindsided number three bangs her to the ground
and stares at her.
While she's down, yeah, yeah, that's what I do.
You're not looking.
You're not set on your feet.
I come in and just bang you to the ground.
So they look at the replay for far too long,
just way too long, almost impossibly too long.
This is just a quick clip,
but you can tell by everyone else's faces around them.
They're bored, just so bored.
And it just, I mean, this feels like a long time.
It's not, but it was like way long.
Longer than this.
This is just one clip.
They looked at it for so long.
She's like, please, please don't see what I did.
Please don't see what I did.
Good news.
Flagrant one on JC.
Yeah.
What about the shove?
She's like, we didn't have a look at somebody shoving.
It should have been an ejection.
That's really bad.
You spent that much time looking at the replay
and you didn't even look at after the thumb to the eye.
That's all they looked at.
And the coach is like,
so I'm about to, I'm running in and I chucked someone.
And that's cool.
Kaelin Clark makes free throw number one,
number two and number three.
Doesn't miss.
Now let's move on.
Four minutes left in the fourth
and Kaelin Clark's going to get the ball.
Her and JC Sheldon just guarding each other all day,
hanging out.
She finds an opening.
Sheldon's on her hand up,
interface, bangs the deep three,
celebrates accordingly.
Yeah.
Fuck yeah.
You like that?
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And this is right after that.
Now they're just hanging out again,
spending a lot of time together on the court.
Yeah.
Kaelin Clark, JC Sheldon.
I'm just isolating them.
So it might be a little pixelated grainy,
but Kaelin Clark guarding JC Sheldon
and then claps in her face when the pass goes awry.
And then there's a shot and they get the rebound
and Kaelin gets it.
And then they call timeout, timeout.
And right here, Sheldon's going to say something like,
you can't guard me.
She says, oh yeah.
And you can guard me.
You can't guard me.
Nah, clap, clap, clap.
Come on.
Come on.
Let's fucking go.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Let's do it.
Yeah.
The crowd loves it.
I mean, there's a number of teammates love it.
They love it so much that her teammate,
Sophie Cunningham says,
if I get the chance,
I'm going to take JC down.
I'm a guard her,
take her to the ground.
Bam.
Throws her to the ground,
steps up and steps right to her,
grabs her by the head and just screams in her ear
all while being the most calmest person you can be.
Pretty cool.
And look at the Zen that Cunningham finds
as she takes her down,
just drapes her,
throws her to the ground.
No facial expression,
just like a slight peaceful smile.
Like the most peace she's had in a long time.
And then grabs her,
steps up,
do something.
Then,
do something.
Do something about it.
Do something about it.
Do something about it.
Yep.
Let her know.
Do something about it.
Kind of begging her just to do something.
Meanwhile,
she had her hair.
She just had her grab back of the head,
just ragdolling her,
whispering in her ear.
Look at this shot.
You know,
do something about it,
Jaycee.
Do something about it.
Do something about it.
You can't.
You can't,
because I got your head.
You're mine.
In your face.
And then,
oh,
you see that?
The hand comes off the back of the head
and goes across the face
and just a little push,
just for good measure.
You know,
you put your thumb in Caitlin's eye,
I'm gonna put my thumb in your eye.
There you go.
And a little bit of the mouth.
Interesting.
Interesting.
Had a chance to bite her.
Now,
this was all,
all on top of the crowd
and this woman,
saved by this man.
Look at that.
He goes,
you good?
I got you.
I'll protect you.
We're both wearing red,
so that's my job.
These,
these fans,
oh,
oh,
oh,
in for a treat.
And then you got,
this head just popping up.
Ah,
12 or 40.
I don't know.
You tell me.
She's still cool.
Chewing gum on the sideline.
Didn't get rattled.
Jaycee's fixing her hair
because that got messed up
from when
Cunningham grabbed it
and screamed,
do something in your,
in her ear 5,000 times.
And yeah,
she's going to get kicked out,
which she's totally cool with.
They go to replay again.
It took less time.
This one was a little easier.
Throws the towel,
flips the hair,
and she's out.
Kicked out of the game.
Two minutes.
Well worth it.
High fives for the fans.
What are those fans doing there?
Game's going on.
Terrible view.
Five seconds,
four seconds,
three seconds,
two seconds,
one,
and bam.
They win.
And
Kaylin Clark is going to walk out
and she's like,
let's just go guys.
Come on now.
Hey, let's go.
Hey,
come on.
Hey,
let's go.
Let's go.
Let's go.
Let's just get out of here.
Let's get out of here.
And that's what they do.
That was awesome.
Good drama.
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