# What's up with Caitlin Clark? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Tags:** basketball-nba\ **Created:** [June 21, 2025, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-caitlin-clark/1019942 "2025-06-21T18:13:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2025, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-caitlin-clark/1019942/21 "2025-07-01T14:50:12Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > As long as the sports media keeps hyping Clark as the Taylor Swift of women’s basketball, she’ll be targeted by resentful opponents. Which is stupid. A rising tide lifts all boats, and from what I hear she’s single-handedly rising the tide. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2025, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-caitlin-clark/1019942/22 "2025-07-01T14:53:30Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > She’s, for some reason I don’t know, a lightning rod for right wingers. She’s white. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2025, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-caitlin-clark/1019942/23 "2025-07-01T14:59:19Z")
What’s going on with her is that she has brought in a massive amount of fans to the sport making the league (therefore every player) a significant amount of money. She also gets an insane amount of attention, even given her amazing talents. The fact that she is white makes some of this attention come from the… wrong crowds, crowds that would not endear her to the rest of the players. Due to the overwhelming attention and racial elements she has been getting fouled HARD and OFTEN, which makes it seem as if she is being targeted by other players. Which in turn garners more negative attention in a vicious cycle. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2025, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-caitlin-clark/1019942/24 "2025-07-01T15:20:12Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Dennis Rodman, for one. Literally the first name to come to mind. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2025, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-caitlin-clark/1019942/25 "2025-07-01T17:24:46Z")
I know this: When Indiana comes to Chicago to play the game gets bumped up to the Bulls’ arena. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2025, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-caitlin-clark/1019942/26 "2025-07-01T17:29:25Z")
> [@DigitalC](#): > > She’s white. And she’s apparently straight, as well. (I note this because about 1/3 of WNBA players are openly lesbian.) ---
**Author:** ![ShadowFacts](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shadowfacts/32/2934_2.png) [@ShadowFacts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShadowFacts)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2025, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-caitlin-clark/1019942/27 "2025-07-01T17:47:50Z")
> [@DigitalC](#): > > Due to the overwhelming attention and racial elements she has been getting fouled HARD and OFTEN, which makes it seem as if she is being targeted by other players. Seem as if? ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2025, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-caitlin-clark/1019942/28 "2025-07-01T18:14:55Z")
> [@ShadowFacts](#): > > > [@DigitalC](#): > > > > she has been getting fouled HARD and OFTEN, which makes it seem as if she is being targeted by other players. > > Seem as if? Yeah she’s got a target painted on her, _largely by the league/media hype machine itself._ That sucks for everyone involved though it’s not uncommon in these spheres, when someone arrives all hyped about how they are The New Big Thing. But at the same time, one has that uncomfortable feeling that some fans would not be quite as upset and would just say “that’s the game” if it were just “those others” roughing one another up. ---
**Author:** ![ShadowFacts](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shadowfacts/32/2934_2.png) [@ShadowFacts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShadowFacts)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2025, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-caitlin-clark/1019942/29 "2025-07-01T19:23:55Z")
I don’t watch much basketball, so perhaps I am just confused, but my comment was more along the lines of: if she is in fact getting fouled HARD and OFTEN, it doesn’t just _seem_ like she is being targeted by other players, she _is_ getting targeted by other players. “The league” and/or “media hype machine” is not elbowing her in the face. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2025, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-caitlin-clark/1019942/30 "2025-07-01T19:36:51Z")
> [@ShadowFacts](#): > > I don’t watch much basketball, so perhaps I am just confused, but my comment was more along the lines of: if she is in fact getting fouled HARD and OFTEN, it doesn’t just _seem_ like she is being targeted by other players, she _is_ getting targeted by other players. She does get fouled on a lot. Note that this article is from June 4, so it’s not current, but I can’t find anything more recent than this. > **[Fever coach says some fouls against Caitlin Clark have crossed line](https://www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/news/caitlin-clark-fouls-indiana-fever-christie-sides-wnba/)** > > Caitlin Clark has been involved in several physical plays to start her WNBA career and Indiana Fever coach Christie Sides believes some of the fouls against the high-profile rookie have crossed the line. > Going into Tuesday’s games, Clark is currently 11th in average fouls drawn per contest, averaging 4.2 per contest, tops among rookies in that category. She is third overall in total fouls drawn with 46, but the Fever (2-9) have played the most games. And then from last year: > **[Analysis of Flagrant Fouls in the 2024 WNBA season](https://statsurge.substack.com/p/flagrant-fouls-in-the-2024-wnba-season)** > > Caitlin Clark was flagrantly fouled 6 times this year. What’s the probability of that happening? I answer this question and more with a Poisson process. That seems like the best objective, in-depth analysis I can find. It’s pretty long and goes into stats and probabilities, but I’ll just give a few of the highlights. > This chart is interesting, as it shows Clark was fouled flagrantly double the next person in the league this year. Assuming everyone has the same chance of being fouled, the probability of Clark being on the receiving end of six flagrants is 1 in 100,000 or 0.001%. This leads me to believe, pretty confidently, that players were being called for flagrant fouls on Clark at a higher rate than others in the WNBA. Does this mean she was targeted because of the off-court narrative? Not necessarily. > To summarize this section, Caitlin Clark represents a perfect storm of factors that may cause more flagrants to be called when she is fouled. Are a couple of the flagrants on her due to ill intention? Probably. Are they all? I don’t think so. > Yes, Caitlin Clark is being treated differently. Is it by the refs or the players? That’s the question people can’t seem to agree upon. From my perspective, it seems both seem to be at play, and each foul would need to be assessed individually to make any strong conclusions. The disproportionately high number of fouls is a fact. However, as pointed out, it’s not necessarily because she is getting targeted more than other players. There is also a factor that she gets fouls called more often as well; so players taking a particular action against her might get called more often than if that same action was done to a different player. So, there may be other players getting targeted that just don’t have the fouls called, and as a result the stats make it look like she’s getting singled out by other players more than she actually is. It could even be a feedback loop. She gets attention in the media, which draws action against her from other players, but the refs are aware of this, so the refs give her more attention and call more fouls, and then the media reports on her high foul rate, and repeat. ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2025, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-caitlin-clark/1019942/31 "2025-07-01T19:42:27Z")
So she gets fouled a lot, but not the most. And the foul stat she leads the league in has a sample size of 6? ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2025, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-caitlin-clark/1019942/32 "2025-07-01T19:57:51Z")
> [@Snarky\_Kong](#): > > And the foul stat she leads the league in has a sample size of 6? There were 34 flagrant fouls committed last year (35 _called_, but one was overturned so it doesn’t count). Of those 34, 6 were on Caitlin Clark. The second-highest number of flagrant fouls against a single player was 3 (which was a tie between two players). So, she received twice as many as any other single player. It’s a small sample because they don’t happen very often. They represent the most serious actions a player takes against another one. > **[Here's Why Angel Reese Got Called With A Flagrant 1 Foul Against Caitlin Clark](https://www.womenshealthmag.com/life/a61143499/what-is-a-flagrant-1-foul/)** > > “I'm always going for the ball." > A flagrant 1 foul will be given to a player if the foul is unnecessary, according to the [official WNBA rules](https://cdn.wnba.com/sites/4/2024/05/2024-WNBA-Rule-Book-FINAL.pdf). > > “If contact committed against a player, with or without the ball, is interpreted to be unnecessary, a flagrant foul-penalty 1 will be assessed,” the rulebook states. “A personal foul is charged to the offender and a team foul is charged to the team.” As pointed out in that article, though, flagrant fouls aren’t necessarily intentional. But they aren’t a standard foul. There are a total of 286 regular season games, so if those 34 fouls happen to fall during the regular season, that means that you only see one every 8 or 9 games. If your point is that it’s just one year, and it’s likely that it won’t be the case this year, especially because 6 is a small number, I think that’s a valid point. ---
**Author:** ![shoeshine81](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@shoeshine81](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shoeshine81)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2025, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-caitlin-clark/1019942/33 "2025-07-01T20:01:09Z")
There’s quite a bit going on with Clark and the WNBA and its fans that requires getting into some sensitive areas to popularly explain and would take a few pages worth of text in a post. There are people trying to poison the well on it by simply asserting that anyone who is a “fan” of Clark or defending her in any capacity is a “right-winger” or a “racist,” as you can see upthread. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2025, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-caitlin-clark/1019942/34 "2025-07-01T20:12:18Z")
I tried to be as neutral as possible as i have literally zero dog in this fight. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2025, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-caitlin-clark/1019942/35 "2025-07-01T21:41:34Z")
Well, the right wing idiot in the office where I work was likely not defending her when he, out of left field, mentioned her adam’s apple. (Which I don’t see, FFS.) ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2025, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-caitlin-clark/1019942/36 "2025-07-01T21:47:13Z")
> [@shoeshine81](#): > > There are people trying to poison the well on it by simply asserting that anyone who is a “fan” of Clark or defending her in any capacity is a “right-winger” or a “racist,” as you can see upthread. I _don’t_ see it upthread. Can you give a specific example? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2025, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-caitlin-clark/1019942/37 "2025-07-01T21:47:31Z")
It’s probably also the case that, in both the men’s and women’s games and in any given year, higher-performing players get fouled more often. Even without deliberate attacks, fouls typically happen when someone’s going after the ball, which puts them in close proximity with the player who has the ball. And of course deliberate attacks would also be more likely to be against more skilled opponents. Has anyone run the stats on whether, say, Lebron James or Michael Jordan got fouled as much as Clark? ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2025, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-caitlin-clark/1019942/38 "2025-07-01T21:48:50Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Even without deliberate attacks, fouls typically happen when someone’s going after the ball, which puts them in close proximity with the player who has the ball. That’s almost exactly what Angel Reese said in the _Women’s Health_ article I posted earlier, when explaining why she committed a foul. And flagrant fouls aren’t always intentional. Intent isn’t part of the determination for why it’s flagrant (just that the foul is “unnecessary”). So I’m sure a lot to what you’re saying. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2025, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-caitlin-clark/1019942/39 "2025-07-01T22:28:12Z")
Deliberate fouls aren’t necessarily flagrant, either. In the last minute or two of a game, it’s common for the trailing team to foul the leading team, because there’s a chance that, first, the leading team will miss the free throws, and second, that the trailing team will get the rebound. Which might give the trailing team an opportunity to catch up, that they wouldn’t otherwise have. Of course, most often, it just results in the leading team getting even further ahead, but there’s no difference between losing by a little and losing by a lot. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2025, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-caitlin-clark/1019942/40 "2025-07-01T22:33:46Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I hadn’t even realized that an “enforcer” was a thing, in basketball. There should be a Warren Zevon song about her. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-caitlin-clark/1019942.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-caitlin-clark/1019942.md?page=3)