Dave Portnoy was not happy with the WNBA officials after Caitlin Clark was on the receiving end of a troublesome foul on Wednesday night.
During the Indiana Fever’s 81-87 loss to the Connecticut Sun in Game 2 of their opening-round series, the Rookie of the Year felt the heat of the opposing defense as they looked to complete the sweep.
In the first quarter, Sun forward DeWanna Bonner’s foot ended up in Clark’s landing zone while defending a jumper. While the foul usually results in a flagrant penalty 1, officials did not blow the whistle on the play.
‘This is the most automatic call in the league,’ Portnoy wrote on X. ‘How the f*** do you miss this? @WNBA refs are so bad.’
While the Sun went on to author the end of Clark’s historic rookie campaign, the 40-minute contest was peppered with controversial no-calls.
Dave Portnoy fumed over a no-call on Caitlin Clark during the Fever’s loss to ConnecticutÂ
Later in the game, Portnoy wrote: ‘These refs are literally blind. It’s disgusting we keep using challenges on fake fouls.’
The game’s physicality continued to rise as Clark made her way to a 25-point, nine-assist, and six-rebound performance.
As the Fever closed the gap, Clark was met by Marina Mabrey in the paint during a layup attempt. After Clark took a forearm to the face without a foul being called, Portnoy continued speaking about the officiating.
‘This is absolutely outrageous no call,’ he wrote. ‘Disgusting.’
Despite a frustrating loss, Portnoy recorded a video to express how proud he is of Clark and the Fever for putting up a fight.
Clark and Indiana ended up losing, 81-87, and got eliminated in the first round of the playoffs
‘They played their f****** balls, t**s off, whatever you wanna say,’ said the Barstool Sports chief. ‘Battled the entire time. Way better effort than Game 1, Caitlin was ballin out there.
‘I’m proud of these women, I’m an Indiana Fever fan for life,’ he added. ‘Caitlin fan for life, she’s gonna get a championship. She’s f****** special.’
‘Great season, great ride. I’m not just saying this, I had more fun watching the Indiana Fever than I have liked watching sports in a while. I’m sad.’
