Caitlin Clark’s Indiana Fever lost in nail-biting fashion on Tuesday night, and fans were quick to slam their coach Stephanie White for a puzzling late-game decision.
With 9.1 seconds to go, the Fever trailed the Atlanta Dream 91-90.
But rather than give the last shot to Clark, who had 27 points, White utilized her as the inbounder to pass to her teammate Natasha Howard.
That strategy did not work for Indiana as Howard had a first attempt from close blocked before missing a mid-range shot which Atlanta rebounded.
And following the Fever’s first loss of the season, fans couldn’t believe that the ball wasn’t in Clark’s hands to end the game.
‘Garbage last play call what the f*** was that,’ one wrote on X.
Caitlin Clark did not take the final shot of the game – instead inbounding the ball to a teammate
Fever coach Stephanie White was slammed for her tactics after the team lost
‘CC not getting the last shot is crazy,’ another said.
A third said: ‘So the worst shooter on the team gets the ball, and best player stands on the sideline. The worst set up of all time.’
Barstool founder Dave Portnoy also added: ‘Somebody needs to explain to me why Caitlin Clark inbounded that ball at end of the game. Shouldn’t it be in her hands to end it? The new crew needs to be way better. Caitlin and Aliyah were awesome. Lexi + Kelsey were good. All the new players kinda sucked.’
Howard had six points in the game and shot just 3-of-9 from the field.
Clark also added 11 assists and five rebounds on the night.
The loss comes as the WNBA investigates alleged racial abuse directed at Angel Reese from Fever fans.
Reese and Clark had a dust-up over the weekend, as Clark was charged for a flagrant foul for slapping across her hand ultimately sending her to the ground. Reese was incensed when she got up and beelined for Clark before others intervened.
Amid that incident, Fever fans were accused of racially abusing Clark before the league issued a statement.
Nia Coffey (center) blocked the shot of Natasha Howard (right) in the closing moments
‘The WNBA strongly condemns racism, hate, and discrimination in all forms – they have no place in our league or in society. We are aware of the allegations and are looking into the matter.’
Notably, Sky coach Tyler Marsh said the team found about the allegations when everyone else did, and indicated they were not aware of any hate speech during the game.
Portnoy – who attended the game in Indiana – also alleged that internet ‘trolls’ who dislike Caitlin Clark are responsible for the ‘false’ accusations which have triggered a WNBA investigation.
