A lot could’ve been talked about Wednesday night’s game between the Indiana Fever and the Phoenix Mercury. But with more bad blood spilled, an old narrative has returned: The WNBA doesn’t treat Caitlin Clark fairly. While the league has already suspended Alyssa Thomas for one game after her non-basketball act on the Fever star, the noise is nowhere close to dying down. Now, US Senator Chuck Grassley has also joined the chorus.

“Caitlin Clark is a bball superstar who gets consistently treated unfairly on the court she gets a fist to the throat for example As a fan I don’t appreciate ill treatment So refs start treating Caitlin like u do every other player,” Senator Chuck Grassley wrote. “What happened last night shldnt happen again.”

While many WNBA legends have helped grow the league, Clark’s arrival in 2024 quite literally boomed every aspect of the sport. However, she has also received the most physicality in the league. In her rookie season, there was the Chennedy Carter incident that sparked outrage. 2024 saw 17.1% of all flagrant fouls, the highest number in the league, on Clark. Last year, it was Marina Mabrey who put Clark to the ground. And that’s what Congressman Tim Burchett also tried to explain.

“It’s trashy. She gets the crap kicked out of her,” Burchett said, as per TMZ. “WNBA is an opportunity for women to take it to the next level. And I think she’s an exceptional athlete, and she’s being just abused physically.” 

What’s worse is that many have a reason to believe that there is inconsistent calling on superstars like Clark and Angel Reese. The Fever guard is currently second in the league with 6.7 fouls drawn per game. However, that is still a lower number, considering the type of physicality she faces day in and day out. In the backdrop of it all, it’s not hard to connect her treatment as the root of the injuries she is experiencing.

Through her high school’s sophomore year until her second year in the WNBA, Clark had not missed a single game. She was known for her availability, something that made her stand out. However, things changed soon.

Last year, she missed all but 13 games through multiple soft tissue injuries. This year, Clark has been listed on the report due to her back troubles and has already missed one game against the Portland Fire on May 20. Against the Mercury, Clark left in the third quarter with 5:15 on the clock and was ruled out for the rest of the game.

Head coach Stephanie White confirmed she is ruled out of the team’s Saturday game against the LA Sparks. While she is recovering well, there’s no update on her return. The team hopes to see improvements through their bye week next week.

But the narrative doesn’t end here. After player safety concerns were addressed, officiating troubles became the focus.

The referees didn’t even bat an eye when Thomas pushed her fisted arm into Clark’s neck in the second quarter. And it simply continued in the next half.

Caitlin Clark took her signature long-range shot but was recklessly closed out by Valerie Ayayi. Clark fell to the floor, but all Ayayi received was a personal shooting foul. The point guard made her three free throws but then left the floor holding her back minutes later. While it’s unconfirmed whether there was some correlation between the incidents and the injury, it could have had some role to play. 

To make matters worse, the officials have called softer fouls on the other end of the court with Clark. She has been in foul trouble for multiple games despite little contact in her fouls. In that first Mercury matchup on Monday, Clark was given a technical for clapping in that skirmish with DeWanna Bonner. 

The league held the foul after the Fever asked for a review. A similar foul was previously reversed for Paige Bueckers and the Dallas Wings, which further brought scrutiny. So, the criticism from the senator and the congressman has some proof to back them up. However, there is still no concrete proof for this narrative, just some isolated incidents. 

The WNBA has always been a physical league, which is only changing from 2026 onwards, emphasizing the freedom of movement. This factor is not unique to Caitlin Clark. Players like Angel Reese suffer through physical play in the paint without any calls as well. But what comes out of this incident is that there needs to be more consistency in whistles, as White has requested for years now.