U.S. Rep Jim Banks calls a foul on treatment of Caitlin Clark

Caitlin Clark #22 of the Indiana Fever drives to the basket against Lindsay Allen #15 of the Chicago Sky during the second quarter in the game at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on June 01, 2024 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Andy Lyons/Getty Images)

Indiana Third District Congressman Jim Banks wants answers from the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) on how it will protect Indiana Fever rookie Caitlin Clark from “excessive physical targeting.”

In a Tuesday letter to WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert, Banks said Clark has experienced “resentment and repeated attacks from fellow players” during her first season with the Fever.

Banks specifically mentioned how Chicago Sky player Chennedy Carter knocked Clark to the ground during a game against the Fever on June 1, a foul which the WNBA eventually upgraded to a Flagrant 1. He said another Sky player, Angel Reese, celebrated the foul. Video footage of the game shows Reese cheering moments after the foul, but some say it’s unclear what she was celebrating. Carter and Reese refused to comment on the foul, and Reese received a $1,000 fine for not being available to reporters after the game.

“Indiana is a basketball state,” Banks wrote. “We don’t wince at aggressive defense, but this was not an example of playing ‘tough’; it was a cheap shot that could have resulted in an injury and should not be tolerated.”

Banks asked Engelbert to answer four questions by June 14. First, he asked what steps the league is taking to “curb excessive physical targeting” of specific players. He also asked if individual teams and organizations will be held accountable for allowing players to target competitors, and if Engelbert believed players “diminishing the talents of their fellow players is beneficial to the leagues’ overall success.” Additionally, he asked if seeing Clark targeted is “inspiring” to young female athletes.

“Every data point shows, when Caitlin Clark plays, more people watch and what they are seeing right now is a league that refuses to hold hostile players accountable and enforce their own rules of sportsmanship,” Banks wrote.

Sports commentators have spent the week analyzing the issue and whether issues of race play a role. The two Sky players are Black women and Clark is white. Former Indianapolis Colts punter Pat McAfee also received backlash this week during his ESPN show by calling Clark a “white b—–” He later apologized.

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