Following the altercations between the Indiana Fever and Connecticut Sun, does star guard Caitlin Clark need an enforcer?
Fever And Sun Get Into Several Scuffles
Caitlin Clark, Tina Charles and Marina Mabrey were all assessed technical fouls after this play.
Jacy Sheldon was assessed a Flagrant 1. pic.twitter.com/okfTpJjRS7
— ESPN (@espn) June 18, 2025
There is no love lost between the Fever and Sun.
During Tuesday night’s game, the teams became involved in several shoving matches following hard fouls.
In the third quarter, Sun guard Jacy Sheldon poked Clark in the eye. Clark responded by pushing Sheldon back. As Clark walked away, Sun guard Marina Mabrey bumped Clark to the floor.
Mabrey, Clark, and Tina Charles received technical fouls, while Shelton got a flagrant 1.
Later in the game, Sheldon came up with a steal and drove the length of the court. Before she could get off a layup, Fever guard Sophie Cunningham grabbed Sheldon’s arms and brought her to the ground.
The hard foul led to a shoving match between Cunningham and Sheldon, with the remaining players on the court getting into the action.
Cunningham received a flagrant 2, resulting in her ejection.
Since the game ended, the WNBA upgraded Mabrey’s technical foul to a flagrant 2 and a fine. Cunningham received an additional fine for her action.
No suspensions were handed out.
The Fever won the game by a score of 88-71.
Does Caitlin Clark Need An Enforcer?
Chris Mannix and Rachel Nichols discussed the brawls between the Fever and Sun on the Open Floor podcast.
Clark has become a target of many opposing teams because of her dominant play. Cunningham is one of the only notable players to defend Clark by giving a hard foul to the other team.
Mannix, who normally covers the NBA, asked Nichols if the Fever needs their version of an enforcer.
“Can we get Caitlin Clark a little protection out there? Are there the WNBA versions of Charles Oakley and the Davis twins? Can we get Caitlin Clark a little protection out there?” Mannix asked Nichols. “Like, that’s your [Michael] Jordan; that’s your Steph Curry. That’s your LeBron [James]. That’s your Kobe [Bryant]. That’s your face of the league. You gotta protect the face of the league, ladies.”
Nichols said the Charles Oakley-type of player has been phased out of the league. However, Nichols credits Clark for standing on business and playing at a high level.
“Look, we’ve seen Steph Curry, that you mentioned, be beat up like this for years,” Nichols explained. “I mean, that is basically the game plan against Steph Curry is just try to out-physical him and beat him up a little bit because, of course, you can’t match the skill level. I think the W is sort of taking a page from that. But, so far, she’s been able to handle everything that’s been thrown at her. I don’t really worry about her toughness. She might be her own enforcer.”
Mannix mentioned that even Steph Curry has Draymond Green to protect him when opposing players touch the “franchise player.” Mannix hopes the same can happen for Clark and the Fever.
“I just think the last couple of years, we’ve seen Caitlin Clark get laid out a few times,” Mannix said. “Look, some of that comes with the territory when you’re a flashy rookie. You’re gonna take some shots. We’re in Year 2 now with Caitlin Clark. I think people on her team, the women on her team, if somebody takes a shot at her … Caitlin went to the floor. You gotta level that girl, right?”
