Caitlin Clark calls out racist fans in aftermath of Angel Reese controversy

“There’s no place for that in our game, no place for that in our society and certainly we want every person that comes into our arena — whether player, whether fan — to have a great experience,” Clark said, via Chloe Peterson of IndyStar. “I appreciate the league doing that [investigation], I appreciate the Fever organization has been at the forefront of this really since Day 1 and what they’re doing. With the investigation, we’ll leave that up to them to find anything and take proper action if so.”

Multiple social media posts claimed that several hateful remarks and noises were directed at Reese after her third quarter incident with Clark. Clark fouled Reese hard as she went for a layup. Officials upgraded it to a flagrant after going to the monitor. After the play unfolded, Reese turned toward Clark and appeared to say, “You crazy as fu*k” as Sky coaches calmed her down. Both Reese and Fever forward Aliyah Boston received technical fouls.

Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese address third quarter incident

Boston delivered a message to fans attending WNBA games. She asked for fans to maintain decorum and have “respect” for the players on the court.

“No type of hate is ever welcomed here,” Boston said, via Michael Voepel of ESPN. “As a player you just have to stay strong and be able to call it out if something happens. We, as athletes, have to make sure that fans know it’s OK to be passionate, to cheer us on, to get loud. But at the end of the day, it’s about respect. If it was your daughter out on the court, you would want that respect being shown. That has to be the mindset for every fan when they step into an arena.”

As for the aforementioned play, Clark made it clear there was no malicious intent. Reese said it was a “basketball play” and the officials got it right. When asked a follow-up, a Sky spokesperson said Reese already answered the question and head coach Tyler Marsh also repeated her answer.

Clark finished the game with a 20-10-10 triple-double. Reese led the Sky with 12 points and 17 rebounds.