Things Got Heated at the Fever vs. Sun Game

Despite the long-standing belief that the WNBA hasn’t established franchise rivalries, the matchup between the Indiana Fever and the Connecticut Sun got extra-spicy on Tuesday night. According to Sports Illustrated, the tension had been brewing all evening, as star player Caitlin Clark was seen mouthing off to a few Sun players throughout the first half of the game. Clark is known for being a very physical competitor, but things escalated late in the third quarter when Sun guard Jacy Sheldon made contact with Clark’s face, seemingly poking her in the eye.

Clark clutched her eye in pain as refs called a foul. Still clearly frustrated, Clark shoved Sheldon in return. Sun forward Marina Mabrey then came up and pushed Clark to the ground. The whole scene was pretty dramatic, as a tangle of Fever and Sun players rallied around the two until officials got the situation under control. Sheldon was given a flagrant foul, and two technical fouls were doled out to Clark and Connecticut center Tina Charles. But as the refs announced that Mabrey’s shove had been ruled a mere technical foul, the crowd booed; Fever coach Stephanie White started wagging her finger at one of the officials; and even the commentators wondered why Mabrey wasn’t ejected from the game. Dave Portnoy, the world’s biggest Caitlin Clark fan, was also predictably incensed.

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“Imagine not kicking Marina Mabrey out after she assaults the face of the league?” the Barstool founder wrote on X. “Sick league @WNBA. Also shouldn’t have been a tech on Caitlin since that girl got in her face after gouging her eyes.”

The Fever ultimately won, defeating the Sun 88–71 and advancing to the Commissioner’s Cup final. I hope everyone, namely Portnoy, has some time to cool their jets before the Fever take on the Minnesota Lynx next month.