As Game 2 of the 2024 WNBA Playoffs between the Indiana Fever and the Connecticut Sun approaches, Caitlin Clark has addressed fans’ accusations regarding an incident in the first game. Some fans claimed that DiJonai Carrington intentionally struck Clark in the eye during the matchup, which Indiana lost 93-69.
Asked by the press about the play, Clark laughed it off: “It wasn’t intentional by any means. If you watch the play, it wasn’t intentional,” she said. Her response comes after Carrington also addressed the play, saying that she wouldn’t hit anybody intentionally.
“I don’t even know why I would intend to hit anybody in the eye, that doesn’t even make sense,” she told the press on Tuesday. “I didn’t know I hit her, actually. I was trying to play the ball,” she added, before explaining that she isn’t that “type of player.”
Clark left the match with a black eye, but she didn’t blame her poor performance on the incident afterwards. “I felt like we just played a crappy game,” Clark said. “Like, the flow of the game was really bad,” the AP Rookie of the Year added.
DiJonai Carrington on *the play* with Caitlin Clark: “I don’t even know why I would intend to hit anybody in the eye. It doesn’t even make sense to me. But no, I didn’t. I didn’t know I hit her actually. I was trying to make a play on the ball.”
Clark finished the game shooting just 4-of-17 from the field, scoring 11 points. She also recorded eight assists, four rebounds and three steals. The Fever will have the chance to force a third game in the series on Wednesday.
DiJonai Carrington has history with Fever fans
Indiana Fever fans aren’t fond of DiJonai Carrington, who recently called them the “nastiest” of the WNBA in a post on X, after the Fever defeated the Sun 84-80 on August 28. She also mocked Clark for flopping during a game earlier this season, and seemingly called her on for not being bothered by “her name” being used to “justify” racism and misogyny back in June.
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Clark, who at first said she was only focused on basketball, then responded more clearly on those issues when asked again by The Athletic’s James Boyd. “People should not be using my name to push those agendas […] Everybody in our world deserves the same amount of respect. The women in our league deserve the same amount of respect,” she said at the time.
