WNBA issues explanation after Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese controversy

The WNBA has explained why Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark was issued a flagrant 1 during her recent clash with Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese

Saturday night saw Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese go head-to-head as the Indiana Fever convincingly beat the Chicago Sky 93-58 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.

While Reese recorded a double-double, scoring 12 points and registering 17 rebounds, for the Sky, Clark went off for the Fever. The 2024 WNBA Rookie of the Year recorded a triple-double, scoring 20 points, 10 assists and 10 rebounds.However, while the clash between the Fever and Sky was not really a competitive contest on the court, tempers flared during a third-quarter sequence which saw Clark pick up her third personal foul when she slapped Reese’s arm, jarring the ball loose whilst also knocking the latter to the ground.

Immediately after the incident, Reese tried to confront Clark, only to be stopped by Indiana center Aliyah Boston, who stepped in between the two to mediate.

In the end, Clark’s third foul was upgraded to a flagrant 1. And following the game, the WNBA released the post-game pool report, with crew chief Roy Gulbeyan explaining why Clark’s foul was upgraded, and why Reese and Boston were also both awarded technical fouls following the incident.Gulbeyan was asked by Indy Star reporter Chloe Peterson: “Why was the foul Caitlin Clark in the third quarter upgraded to a Flagrant 1? What did you see that led you to call a technical foul on Angel Reese and Aliyah Boston?”

Gulbeyan replied: “Okay, the foul on Clark met the criteria for Flagrant Foul 1, for wind up, impact and follow through for the extension of the left hand to Reese’s back, which is deemed not a legitimate basketball play, and therefore deemed necessary contact.

“After the foul, there is a physical taunt technical on Boston and a verbal technical on Reese, which offset.”

Speaking after the game, Clark played down any tension between her and Reese. “Let’s not make it something that it’s not,” Clark said after the Fever win.

“It was just a good play on the basketball. I’m not sure what the ref saw to upgrade it, and that’s up to their discretion. It’s a take foul to put them at the free throw line. I’ve watched a lot of basketball in my life, that’s exactly what it was. I wasn’t trying to do anything malicious. That’s not the type of player I am.”

She added: ‘”I went for the ball, clear as day in the replay.

“You watch it, you know it shouldn’t have been upgraded. Again that’s up to the refs’ discretion, but I appreciate A.B. having my back.”

Reese was also not in the mood to inflame any tensions either, with the Sky star calling the incident “a basketball play.”