Caitlin Clark drew her third technical foul of the season during the Indiana Fever’s 103–88 loss to the Seattle Storm on Thursday.
The infraction occurred midway through the second quarter after Clark hit a long three-pointer over Seattle’s Victoria Vivians. The two stared each other down before trading trash talk and a shoulder bump. Referees quickly whistled the players for technical fouls before Clark’s teammate, Aliyah Boston, stepped in between them to prevent further confrontation.
As mentioned, the technical foul was Clark’s third of the season which puts her closer to an automatic suspension. In the WNBA, a player draws an one-game penalty after accumulating seven technical fouls. From there, another suspension is issued for every other technical received (i.e., No. 9, No. 11, No. 13, etc.).
Clark drawing such a suspension wouldn’t be unprecedented. Phoenix Mercury star Diana Taurisi has been suspended four times for too many technical fouls, including twice in one season, as pointed out by the Indianapolis Star’s Chloe Peterson.
In the NBA, a player draws a one-game suspension after his 16th technical of the season. That happened to the Golden State Warriors’ Draymond Green during the 2022-23 campaign.
Clark drew her first technical during the Fever’s fourth game of the season, when she yelled out an expletive with a referee nearby. Her second tech came earlier this week versus the Los Angeles Sparks under similar circumstances while complaining about a call, which was addressed by Fever coach Christie Sides.
“We’re spending too much time talking to the officials,” Sides said after Tuesday’s loss to the Sparks.” We’ve got to leave that alone. We’ve got to just play our game and let them do their job and not put it in their hands to make decisions that ultimately hurt us. We don’t want — we shouldn’t get technicals. Let me get the technicals. Let me go after the officials.”
Clark also risks drawing a higher fine for each technical foul she receives for the rest of the season. WNBA players are fined $200 for each of their first three techs. That goes up to $400 for techs 4-6, and $800 for each technical foul after that.
Nine games into her rookie season. Clark appears to be getting more comfortable in WNBA play. She scored 20 points with nine assists in Thursday’s loss to the Storm. However, she also had seven turnovers which has been a persistent problem as she and her teammates become acclimated on the court.
Source Agencies
