The two moments that may have set off Chennedy Carter before hip-checking Caitlin Clark
Some physical jostling and trash-talking may have been at the root of Chennedy Carter’s hip-check heard around the world.
Right before Carter’s controversial foul against Caitlin Clark on Saturday, which has dominated sports talk ever since, Clark boxeš ŗd Carter out with a high arm/elbow and then trash-talked her oppš onent up the floor.
Carter later responded with a cheap shot that earned her a flagrant foul.
āIām a competitor, and Iām going to compete no matter who you are, and no matter whoās in front of me. So thatās just what it was,ā Carter said Monday. āHeat of the moment play. Weāre getting at it. Weāre getšting back and forth. Itās basketball. Itās all hoops. After we finish the game, itās all love.ā
She added: āI donāt have any regrets with anything. Iām going to compete and play ļ·ŗ100 percent hard, no matter who it is ā like I said ā or who weāre playing. No, I donāt have ašny regrets.ā
While Carter has called it a heat-of-the-moment play, it doesn’t take a big leap to connect the preceding moments with what ultimately transpired.
With the Fever leading by š²four late in the third quarter, a third straight miss by Indiana resulted in both Clark and Carter going for the loose ball.
As Carter and her Sky teammate tried to corral the rebound, Clark reached in with her leftšø hand and used said arm ā and maybe her elbow ā to move Carter out of the way.
The Fever then scored.
Right after the basket, Clark turšned to Carter and appeared to trash-talk her opponent for quite a few paces.
Carter drained a jumper on the Sky’s next possession and then leveled Clark before the ensuing in-bounds pass.
Clark later ripped Carter for the foul during her interview with ESPN, and Carter has been almost universally scolded for the play.
āYeah, thatās just not a basketball play,ā Clark said. āBut you know, Iāve gotta plį©į©į©į©į©į©ā¤ā¤ā¤ā¤į©ā¤ā¤ā¤ā¤į©ā¤ā¤ā¤ā¤į©š±į©į©į©ay through it, thatās what basketball is about at this level. I thought weāve been really physical, weāve missed some bunnies around the rim, so hopefully, those fall in the fourth.ā