Paige Bueckers and Caitlin Clark had words for each other during Thursday night’s primetime showdown between the Dallas Wings and Indiana Fever.
With a few seconds remaining in the first half, Bueckers intentionally fouled Clark around midcourt. The officiating crew, however, waited a bit too long to call the foul on the former UConn star.
Clark, who had her arm pulled by Bueckers during this exchange, threw the basketball in disgust and made it clear that she wasn’t happy with her opponent.
You can see Bueckers wait for Clark to look in her direction so she can say, “Calm down.” As you’d imagine, WNBA fans had a lot to say about this interaction.
Chris Jones-Imagn Images.
“Intentional fouls to blow up a play at the end of a quarter are COMMON place in hoops for those that don’t know. But sure let’s act like I’m getting assaulted,” one fan commented.
“To understand how terrible WNBA refs are: this was a clear foul. Dallas had a foul to give. Yet, Paige had to grab CC TWICE for the refs to finally call it,” a second fan wrote.
“Imagine throwing a temper tantrum and flopping and then Paige is in your face laughing at you telling you to calm down,” a third fan added.
“CC is embarrassing,” another fan declared.
Caitlin and Paige will be teammates soon.
Bueckers and Clark will have to put their differences aside in just two weeks from now. After all, they’re both on USA Basketball’s roster for the FIBA World Cup.
Team USA’s roster also features Angel Reese, A’ja Wilson, Aliyah Boston, Breanna Stewart, Napheesa Collier, Kelsey Plum, Kahleah Cooper, Rhyne Howard, Chelsea Gray and Jackie Young.
The FIBA World Cup will take place from September 4-13 in Berlin, Germany.
