A frustrated Caitlin Clark hit out at a WNBA referee again on Wednesday night, shortly after imploding into a furious rant at the official during the game.
The Indiana Fever superstar, who has been the subject of yet more WNBA foul controversy in recent weeks, lost her cool with referee Gerda Gartling during Wednesday’s game against the Golden State Valkyries.
The official penalized Clark’s teammate Aliyah Boston for a foul on Golden State’s Veronica Burton, just moments after Clark was not awarded a foul of her own.
Minutes earlier, the three-time All-Star went for a lay-up and fell to the ground after being challenged by Kiah Stokes, yet the referee chose not to call a foul.
She therefore exploded when Burton was awarded one shortly after, waving her arms animatedly before racing over to the official and shouting in her face.
Clark doubled down on her frustration as she slammed the no-call following Indiana’s 88-75 loss.
Caitlin Clark went berserk during the Indiana Fever’s game against the Golden State Valkyries
The WNBA superstar doubled down on her frustration following the game as she hit out again
‘I got kneed right in the quad. That hurts. The ref can’t miss that,’ Clark bemoaned. ‘Then I had to play with a contusion in my leg the rest of the game. It was ridiculous. You can’t miss calls like that.’
Following her angry mid-game outburst, Clark limped down the tunnel to receive some treatment, before returning to the Indiana bench minutes later. She did not receive a technical foul for her rant towards the referee.
Clark finished with 13 points, six assists and three rebounds as the Fever slumped to a 75-88 loss, with her struggles from beyond the arc continuing in the defeat.
She shot 1-for-8 from three-point range and has a poor record of just 15.8 percent from deep in her last three appearances.
The 24-year-old has been at the center of fierce controversy in the WNBA of late, with Phoenix Mercury star Alyssa Thomas recently punching her in the throat during a game against the Fever.
The shocking incident sparked outrage across the country as fans argued that Clark, who has been subjected to aggressive tactics by players since being drafted by Indiana in 2024, is not receiving protection on the court from WNBA officials.
On Sunday night, she was also floored by Las Vegas Aces player Chelsea Gray in an incident that was reviewed by referees for a ‘hostile act’.
Clark tried to defend Gray during the second quarter of her team’s 109-75 victory, but as she tried to stop her from getting her shot away, the Aces star appeared to use her left elbow to strike her midriff.
The Indiana Fever superstar was left incensed by a referee calling for a foul moments after she was not awarded one herself
She also appeared to get an elbow to the midriff from Las Vegas star Chelsea Gray on Sunday
The incident led referees to review the play for a potential ‘hostile act’, which infuriated Gray and coach Becky Hammon, who protested the decision to review.
Clark remained on the floor as the review process played out and, when she eventually returned to her feet, she was left holding her back having recently dealt with injury issues.
The referees eventually ruled the play a common foul for Clark, which sparked a furious reaction from the Fever star.
After the game, the 33-year-old Gray posted a vile racist message she received to her Instagram story following the clash with Clark.
‘People act like we just make this s*** up,’ she wrote in her caption. ‘And the audacity to tell us as athletes to “shut up and dribble.”‘
Hilton Grand Vacations has since fired an unnamed male employee who is accused of sending the disgusting slur to her on social media.
Gray’s post came after Phoenix Mercury’s Alyssa Thomas faced similar abuse in the wake of her own run-in with Clark.
Thomas appeared to punch the Fever guard in the throat after she fell to the floor during a game last month.
In the days that followed, Thomas said she was racially abused online and received threats toward herself and her family – including her children.
