Golden State Valkyries guard Tiffany Hayes has seemingly endorsed a fan’s offer to inflict violence on Caitlin Clark after they clashed during a game last week.
The pair clashed during the Indiana Fever’s 90-82 victory over the Valkyries on Saturday, which saw Clark return after missing one game with a back problem.
During the third quarter of the game, Clark nailed a three-pointer from the logo while Hayes was trying to defend her.
Clark, who acted as the grand marshal at the Indy 500 on Sunday, said something to Hayes after scoring, which appeared to be: ‘You like that’.
Fans on social media claim Hayes responded by saying: ‘Better get yo’ a** out my motherf***ing face!’
Clark then taunted her again by replying: ‘Bring it on. Let’s go. Step up.’
Tiffany Hayes has seemingly endorsed a fan’s offer to inflict violence on Caitlin Clark
The pair clashed during the game after Clark celebrated nailing a three-pointer from the logo
That appeared to be the end of the matter until Hayes was later caught on a hot mic seemingly accusing referees of being lenient on Clark.
‘They’re never going to start calling a foul on her,’ she said. ‘If they did, she would never get to play in the games.’
Then fans noticed on Hayes’ social media accounts that she continued to disparage Clark and even seemingly endorsed a threat of violence against her.
In one message, a fan wrote: ‘I talk ish, b/c you’re nvr on my teams…. but I was READY 2 support your crashOUT.’
Hayes replied to that fan: ‘lol that’s fair.’
Another commented: ‘Your composure was much better than mine would’ve been, I’ll tell ya that!’
Hayes responded to that one: ‘My growth is a gift and a curse but mostly a gift.’
But then one menacing fan added: ‘Listen. I got some cousins we don’t speak about that will ride at dawn upon request. Just let me know.’
Hayes replied to that one with a laughing emoji and ‘that’s real’.
While Hayes didn’t directly threaten Clark, whom she plays against again on Friday night, and the fan didn’t mention Clark it seems obvious they are talking about the WNBA’s most famous player.
Clark scored 22 points after in her team’s 90-82 win over Golden State and said before the game that her decision to not play Wednesday against Portland because of a sore back was mostly dictated by her confidence level in her body.
She returned this season from a plethora of injuries that limited her to 13 games last year.
Clark received a raucous reception during her duties as the grand marshal at the Indy 500
‘I think, at the end of the day, it´s me and my confidence,’ Clark said Friday. ‘Coming back from injury and having however many soft tissue injuries (last season) is a real mental challenge.’
It was the first game she had missed this season. She said that her confidence has gone up and down.
‘These are the best players in the world, and if I don´t feel 100 percent confident in my body on Game 5 of the year,’ Clark said, ‘I don´t know if that´s really worth it in that scenario.’
The WNBA issued the Fever a warning on Thursday about how they handled reporting Clark’s injury.
She hadn’t been on the injury report despite not practicing Tuesday. She was ruled out 100 minutes before Wednesday’s game.
Clark said that she received treatment on Tuesday and planned to plan Wednesday. She woke up Wednesday morning feeling a little bit sore and did some physical therapy at home. She got in a pregame workout before deciding not to play.
‘I actually went back and looked because of all these narratives that are going crazy online, about when I told my mom I wasn´t going to play the game: 4:47,’ Clark said.
‘You guys found out at 5:20. So one of the most important people in my life found out 40 minutes before you guys.’
