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Indiana Fever Star Kelsey Mitchell Reacts to Caitlin Clark’s Punishment Amid WNBA Playoffs

Originally posted on Athlon Sports
By Rowan Fisher-Shotton | Last updated Sep 22, 2025 4:39 PM ET

Following the Indiana Fever’s first-round upset over the Atlanta Dream on Sept. 18, Fever guard Caitlin Clark chimed in on an Instagram highlight of her bench celebrating the win, typing "Refs couldn’t stop us" and "Elite bench mob."

The league office reportedly fined her $200 for the referee jab, a penalty Clark laughed off on X, tweeting, "Got fined $200 for this lol BENCH MOB WILL BE EVEN MORE ROWDY TOMORROW LET’S GOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

On Monday’s "NBA Today," Clark's teammate, All-Star Kelsey Mitchell, spoke about the WNBA fine and Clark’s off-court personality.

"I’m pretty sure somebody took care of it for her," Mitchell told ESPN. "People don’t know this about Caitlin, but she has an unbelievably funny sense of humor. The tweet was the tweet, but you have to know CC to know it’s just nothing but love. Her energy and her effort to support the team is her way of doing it."

Through a roller-coaster 2025 season, Clark played just 13 games before a right groin injury on July 15 ended her season. In those outings, she averaged 16.5 points, 8.8 assists, 5.0 rebounds and 1.6 steals per contest.

Now, Indiana enters Game 2 of its semifinal series against the Las Vegas Aces riding an 89–73 road victory that clinched Game 1, all with Clark sidelined.

Mitchell poured in a playoff career-high 34 points on 12-of-23 shooting, while Odyssey Sims added 17 and Natasha Howard secured a 12-point, 11-rebound double-double in the upset win at Michelob ULTRA Arena.

Indiana, a 24-20 team contending without its All-Star floor general, will again lean on its bench culture as it seeks the franchise’s first Finals berth since 2015.

Game 2 tips Tuesday at 9:30 p.m. ET, with the Fever aiming to channel that same mob energy into a defining road sweep.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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