Throughout the season, Caitlin Clark’s been taking more contact than a stunt double in an action movie. It’s no secret that she has been on the receiving end of hard fouls and bad officiating calls more often than not. Not just the players, but even reputed coaches have co-signed that. “I think teammates should step in and defend Caitlin. But at the end of the day … there’s too much bumping, too much grabbing, too much fouling that’s not being called. And people get tired of getting hit,” said Aces HC Becky Hammon.

But before saying this, Hammon also reflected on why teams take that approach against her. “But she’s a player you have to be physical with. If you just follow her around, she’s going to cook you for dinner,” Hammon said. Even the Valkyries’ head coach, Natalie Nakase, had the same strategy going against Caitlin Clark. “You guys saw what we were doing. … We were being disruptive. We know she doesn’t like physicality,” the former Aces assistant said. However, Caitlin Clark is not always the victim.

She has delivered her fair share of contact, too. Rewind to last regular season, in a matchup between the Indiana Fever and Atlanta Dream, where the Fever star struck 2x WNBA champion Jordin Canada hard on the head as she drove to the rim for a layup. It happened while CC was attempting a block. Back then, the moment lit up social media. “So let this be proof that Caitlin Clark commits these type of fouls too,” one fan posted. “Going for the block but hits Jordin Canada upside the head.” The controversy this time, though, was all about payback, it seems…

No, it’s not us saying this, but fans. An X user, on July 11, shared a video of Canada and Clark with the caption, “……Please don’t tell me she got pushed down w no call again”. In the clip, the Dream star seemed to be attempting a steal when Clark suddenly slipped and hit the hardwood. But just as she passed the ball to her teammate, she fell again with Canada hunched over the player. Truth be told, it’s unclear whether there was a shove involved, but one user decided to share the tweet and comment, “Literally and then got pushed while she was already down”. 

And soon enough, others chimed in, too…

Fans weigh in to decide if it was a slip or something more…

Online reactions came in hot as most of the people rushed in to defend Caitlin Clark, saying things like, “That’s the weirdest thing I’ve seen yet, can you just stand over someone?” On the other hand, a second group emerged and made it clear that the sympathy card wasn’t going to fly this time. One fan wrote, “Jordin Canada out here moving and shooting the basketball like Prime Klay Thompson. Meanwhile Caitlin Clark is playing like Playoff Joel Embiid.”

They were referencing Jordin’s career-high 30-pointer night, out of which she scored 26 in the first half itself. Whereas Caitlin Clark had just 4 points tied to her name by then. However, some viewers did not think it was Caitlin Clark’s off night. Rather, they thought that the ATL was deliberately playing in a way where CC was at a disadvantage. One X user wrote, “The way they guard her like literally no one else.” 

That has been true all season long. For instance, when the Valkyries disrupted her momentum by not letting her have that left step-back. As the Valkyries HC had shared, “We know that she wants to get to that left stepback. I watched her at Iowa, she loves that left stepback, it’s almost like a layup for her. So again, we were just making sure she wasn’t getting into rhythm and then that she was seeing multiple bodies.”

Maybe that’s the strategy keeping Valkyries undefeated against the Caitlin Clark-led Fever. And while there were those going off against Canada, there were also people who did not hesitate to argue that the player didn’t do the act strategically. They said, “Jordin didn’t even do that maliciously and she lingered there with her like she was checking on her. Y’all can’t be this soft. Caitlin slipped lol.” But it’s understandable why physicality is an expected aspect against Clark, and why some fans can be particularly ticked off about it.

That sensitivity stems from incidents like when Marina Mabrey received only a technical after sending the reigning WNBA Rookie of the Year flying to the floor. It was after CC pushed Jacy Sheldon away because Sheldon poked her in the eye while attempting to guard. Although, right next day, the WNBA altered its decision for the better, likely due to the backlash. Insider Alexa Philippou revealed that Mabrey’s technical foul from the game was upgraded to a flagrant 2, which comes with the standard fine of $400 as opposed to a $200 fine for flagrant 1.

Such acts of physicality against Clark seem like a common occurrence, which is why one person even wrote, “Sad thing is I’m used to seeing this now…” Another person also seemed disheartened by the incident and wrote, “CC I love you but go to Europe.” There’s no doubt that the EuroLeague focuses more on high-IQ plays. As said by the Bulgarian coach, Nikolai Gospodinov, “Coaches would like their players to keep tactical discipline on the court and run the system all the way through.”

However, when it comes to fouling tactically, European basketball is no different from American one. The Dutch coach Thomas Roijakkers accepted, “Every coach has his own tactics. However, there are certain tactics that are often being applied. An example is to “intentionally” foul at the end of the game, without making an intentional foul.” So for now, Caitlin Clark fits perfectly where she’s currently playing. Moreover, a lot of powerful voices are backing her apart from her fan base.

Like Congressman Jim Banks, who didn’t hesitate to ask, in June, how the league is planning to curb “excessive physical targeting of specific players”, after Chennedy Carter appeared to foul on Caitlin Clark in a game against the Chicago Sky. He wrote, “Indiana is a basketball state. We don’t wince at aggressive defense, but this was not an example of playing ‘tough’; it was a cheap shot that could have resulted in an injury and should not be tolerated.” 

So, whether or not Jordin Canada’s contact was intentional or not, Caitlin Clark walked away unharmed. For now, she is safe and very much still the storyline. Still and all, the league does need to fix the problem of growing physicality soon, otherwise the players might actually consider alternatives.