Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever have had a tough start to the WNBA season. The league is filled with immense talent, and there are no easy games for any team. Everyone wants to be on their best game.
When that competitiveness comes in, arguments are bound to happen. And when those arguments happen publicly on-court between a player and a coach, a lot of speculation naturally builds up. This is what happened with Caitlin Clark and Fever head coach Stephanie White.
Everyone is trying to make sense of what that means for the relationship between Clark and White. Both of them have come forward and cleared the air. They have repeatedly confirmed that there are no problems between them. However, Jason Whitlock still has his doubts. Lakers legend and Klay Thompson’s father, Mychal Thompson, also commented on the whole situation.
“She’s bad on defense. She’s got to get better. I mean, like, come on, Caitlin, move your feet. She gets beat off the dribble. She gets out of position. She reaches and picks up silly fouls. You’re the franchise player. You can’t be picking up three fouls in the first half. So, I don’t blame Stephanie White for her defense at all. As a player, you have to take individual pride and responsibility and be willing to defend, move your feet, and figure it out,” Thompson replied (19:21) as he disagreed with Whitlock, who said Caitlin Clark isn’t a “horrendous” defensive player.
“So, she definitely needs to improve defensively because even I’m watching the game, she said, ‘Come on, Caitlyn. You can’t get beat off the dribble that easily.’ So, that’s not Stephanie White’s fault. That’s her. She has to, as much pride as she takes in shooting, shooting drills, I’m sure, working on a shot, you also have to take that same type of pride and focus on learning how to play defense, too, and how to move your feet and get in position so you won’t pick up silly fouls. So, that’s all on her,” Thompson shielded White from scrutiny.
Mychal Thompson defends Caitlin Clark’s arguments with referees
Jason Whitlock mentioned that people in the media believe Clark has become “unlikable” (15:34). Whitlock said she complains too much to the referees. Mychal replied that he didn’t agree with Whitlock.
Thompson felt that Caitlin needs to argue. He thinks that defenders take a lot of liberties, a lot of pushing, shoving, and grabbing because of Clark’s quality. Players try to slow her down, and referees allow a lot more contact against Caitlin Clark than against other point guards in the league. Mychal admitted to agreeing with Clark’s complaining.
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