During Indiana Fever’s matchup against the Golden State Valkyries, Caitlin Clark and Tiffany Hayes were busy having a go at each other. But then things came to a boiling point in the third quarter when Clark got just beyond half court and hit a logo three to tie the game at 48. Immediately there was an exchange of words, and that clash moved from an on-court incident and spilled over to social media as well. And now, Clark is finally addressing her thoughts about it all. 

“For myself, you’re just a competitor and you leave it on the court. I don’t think there’s anything that carries over into the next game,” Clark told the media. “At least for me—I can’t speak for the other side—I approach every game the same way. I don’t have any bad blood with any players in this league. It’s just competitive fire.”

That exchange in court, though, was just the start of the story. After the game, Hayes was caught on a live microphone expressing her frustration with officiating, more so how Clark is refereed. 

“They’re never going to start calling a foul on her. If they did, she would never get to play in the games,” Hayes was caught saying in a hot mic moment. 

The situation escalated more because of Hayes’ social media activity after the game. There she interacted with multiple posts reacting to the incident. One widely shared post included a comment suggesting violence towards Clark. 

“Listen. I got some cousins we don’t speak about that will ride at dawn upon request. Just let me know,” to which Hayes replied, “That’s real,” followed by a laughing emoji, which has gone on to draw major scrutiny to her. Despite all that, Clark has maintained her stance that the incident would not carry over. 

“I don’t come in here with any sort of mindset that’s different than any way that I approach any other game,” she added.

However, come their rematch at the Chase Center, Hayes echoed Clark and wanted to bury the hatchet. 

“She just made a play and chirped,” Hayes told The Mercury News. “And it was a little chirping here and there, and that was that… That was the end of it and it should have been the end of it.”

This is not the first such incident Clark has had and it won’t be the last.  Clark has had a brush with players like Chennedy Carter and Marina Mabrey while thriving on the competitiveness. She was always aggressive and passionate during her college days. In fact, many believe that her trash talk has gone down in the WNBA. 

With both Clark and Hayes putting the incident in the past, the focus shifted back to basketball. And Clark made it clear that despite the competitive rivalry, she has plenty of respect for the Valkyries and the culture Natalie Nakase has built in Golden State.

Caitlin Clark Showers Praise on Natalie Nakase’s Valkyries Before Rematch

Caitlin Clark’s 22-point, 9-assist performance yielded the Indiana Fever’s first win against the Golden State Valkyries. During the Valkyries’ first season, the Fever went 0-3 against the expansion franchise and struggled to break free against their top defense.  And ahead of their rematch, Clark is aware of the threat that Valkyries bring, praising Nakase and her system. 

“I expected it to be competitive again. They were one of the best defensive teams in the league. Natalie is a tremendous coach,” Clark said. “She gets them to do the things she wants, and they do them at a very high level. They have a great bench and a lot of players they can sub in who will continue to uphold that level of play. I expect a really great game.”

When the game arrived, Clark was proven right. She had 16 points but went 3-13 from the field while adding 4 rebounds and 6 assists in the 90-88 final possession loss. The Valkyries executed a whopping 11 blocks on the Fever as they fiercely defended the paint.

The Fever could only shoot 41% from the field and 32% from the three-point line. The crowd rallied behind the Valkyries, even booing for Clark every time she touched the ball. The Fever-Valkyries rivalry is now official.   With this loss, the series is drawn 1-1 and they will see each other again towards the end of June.