Chennedy Carter’s foul on Caitlin Clark was ‘not appropriate’

Chicago Sky head coach Teresa Weatherspoon addressed Chennedy Carter’s flagrant foul on the Indiana Fever’s Caitlin Clark, calling it “not appropriate” and not “what we do or who we are.”

“Chennedy understands that there are better ways to handle situations on the field, and she will learn from them, as we all will,” Weatherspoon said.

Late in the third quarter of Chicago’s 71-70 loss to the Fever, Carter hit a mid-range jumper along the baseline. She approached Clark on the ensuing inbounds play and checked the rookie’s hip.

Although considered a foul away from the ball at the time, it was later upgraded to a flagrant foul by the league office.

The moment might have gone unnoticed by most if the player who received the excessive contact wasn’t one of the WNBA’s brightest stars. Because it involved Clark, the misconduct became a flashpoint in broader conversations.

The Fever have called out what they see as consistently poor officiating for the 2024 No. 1 overall pick. There’s also the idea that older WNBA players are targeting Clark, which is atypical in the way recruits are traditionally welcomed into the field.

Carter added fuel to the fire when she basically called Clark overrated in an article on Threads.

Beyond Carter, the speech amplified what have long been structural problems underlying a sports league in which the vast majority of players are black women. With more people than ever following the WNBA, problematic opinions about players are being presented like never before.

Weatherspoon’s statement will ideally help bring down the temperature a bit

But you can expect Carter’s offense to be front and center again when Chicago and Indiana next meet on June 16.