The WNBA is in its second quarter of the 2024 season and the storylines on and off the court have not disappointed. On Sunday, Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever will host the Chicago Sky, featuring fellow rookies Angel Reese and Kamilla Cardoso. It will be their second meeting, which is even more anticipated following the Sky’s Chennedy Carter intentional blindside bump of Clark that touched off a firestorm in the media — professional and social — and put a spotlight on the issue of whether the Fever rookie is being targeted.
CBS Sports HQ WNBA analysts Terikka Foster-Brasby and Erica L. Ayala sat down for a conversation ahead of Sunday’s game (noon ET on CBS) to share their thoughts on that foul and how what has transpired since might impact the game, as well as the game within the game.
Erica L. Ayala: Terrika, we’ve got a big one coming up on CBS on Sunday and a lot of people are focused on the hip check heard round the world. Let’s just first talk about what were your reactions to the actual play on the court and then how it all transpired in media the last time these two teams went head to head?
Terrika Foster-Brasby: Originally, I was just, like, dang and then I moved on. Then, like, I knew it, like, on the inside I was, like, they was jawing, that was because she hit her in the face in with the elbow … To me it was an instant, “This was my get back.”
Now I will say it to myself like not Chennedy you know you can’t — Chennedy, you know you can’t hit that girl, and I thought that they were going to call the flagrant, they didn’t … and I moved on.
ELA: Got a game to play.
TFB: After the game when I started to see all of the conversation, all of the media frenzy, all of the think pieces it was, like, have these people never watched basketball before?
I could not believe it elevated to the point it did it. I am still mind blown at that. But we talk all the time how sports is really just a microcosm of the larger society. And there were two layered things there to me one, the obvious that women are not supposed to be aggressive and physical in this way. We’re supposed to be dainty and ladylike, or whatever. And so to have two women, be this kind of physical in a sport is crazy. But then the second layer was the obvious, that it was [involved] Caitlin Clark.
This has happened so often to other players all the time and there was never any discussion. But in the 10 games that Caitlin has been in the league, there has been so much conversation around how she’s treated people are hating people, or extra physical, extra aggression. And so as someone who saw the play as what it was, a play of frustration, I knew that it would instantly add fuel to the fire of people hating and not liking Caitlin. And so I said, I wish she would not have done it to Caitlin Clark, because all it’s going to do is continue to just add more to a story that we’re already trying to extinguish.
ELA: Yeah, to the point where these two teams are going to face off again on CBS and that’s what folks still want to talk about, which is wild to me, because the players … have already moved on. Chennedy Carter, she said, I’m not answering any questions.
What did she say? She ain’t saying nothing. What did you say to her? I didn’t say nothing. Now, I mean, if you can read lips, I think she might have she might have undersold that part of the exchange. But the point is that, like you, she was ready to move on. And even Clark — first of all, she was asked if Carter owes her an apology for what some are deeming an assault and I was like, “No, I get it. It’s basketball.”
I said this on CBS Sports HQ, we have heard Elena Delle Donne, Jonquel Jones, Breanna Stewart, Nneka Ogwumike, and Dearica Hamby all say in media that they feel that they’re not getting adequate calls. But it wasn’t Stewie. It wasn’t Nneka. It wasn’t EDD. To your point earlier, it was Caitlin Clark. And without the full context, what people are going to see and hear is the Clark feels unsafe.
TFB: There was something else, where in its full context, she was saying that there is a lot of division in media coverage at this moment, and it stinks, and it’s not fair, and she wishes that we could just get back to basketball. But instead of using the entire context of what she said, Caitlin Clark says WNBA media coverage stinks.
ELA: And just this week on Thursday, Clark was asked about media coverage and later in the day asked specifically about her name being used to perpetuate racism, bigotry, and division in the WNBA and in the full clip Clark states clearly, “People should not be using my name to push those agendas. It’s disappointing, it’s not acceptable.”
Alright, so let’s get back to now what we’re going to see on Sunday on CBS. What are we expecting on the court? We have a Chicago Sky team that has a lot to prove if they want to stay in that eighth spot. Indiana has been able to rack up four wins, including one over the aforementioned Chicago Sky.
What changes, if any, has Indiana been able to make to get those wins? What do they need to continue to do, including against an aggressive Chicago Sky team this weekend?
TFB: Well, I can’t say that one thing that’s going to play to Indiana’s favor is that the Sky are going to be without their center Elizabeth Williams, … [who] is going to be missing a part of the season because of a torn meniscus. We don’t know how much time she’s going to miss but she is going to need surgery and I’m sure it’s going to take a few weeks for her to recover.
Luckily for the Chicago team, they do have some depth in that area. They’ve got Izzy Harrison that can step up. Kamilla Cardoso is back, Angel Reese, while she won’t be playing center, she certainly adds some additional help inside the paint there. So luckily for them, they have built that depth in the in their front court.
However, that is an opportunity for Indiana to really look at how we can play inside-outside in basketball. How will they utilize NaLyssa Smith and Aliyah Boston more in order to get them more touches, Boston. If you look at her numbers, you’ll say she’s not having the same year she’s had last year. There’s a reason that she’s having a sophomore “slump,” and I use air quotes with that, because I don’t believe she’s slumping.
If she got touches I don’t believe she wouldn’t be slumping. If she had more schemes ran in her favor — [those are] missing. This team is really good when they’re playing high low, this team is really, well, they’ve got Caitlin off the ball. When she’s facilitating. When she’s dishing, this team looks much better.
And so you’re gonna need that. You’re gonna have to give Boston the ball, you’re going to have to give your bigs and your frontcourt the ball against the Chicago team. Because if you don’t, Chicago’s bigger, they’re a little faster, they’re going to get in your face if you’re Indiana.
ELA: And we saw Boston meet success in Thursday’s game against Atlanta. The 2023 Rookie of the Year went off for 27 points and 10 rebounds. Smith added 10 points and Clark finished the night with six assists. The Fever, to your point, outscored the Dream 42-30 in the paint, and 11-2 on the fastbreak.
I’ll also be looking to see if Fever head coach Christie Sides will ask Boston to come out of the paint more so the call isn’t sticking on offense. Even if Boston is just pulling that defense out a little, making more space for other players, making space for Caitlin to cut off the ball and then find her. Those are things that I think Indiana has to do.
Terrika, thanks for previewing the game featuring the Chicago Sky (4-7) at Indiana Fever (4-10). We cannot wait to watch these two teams battle it out Sunday afternoon on CBS.
