Caitlin Clark says she has adopted a new approach to her conversations with WNBA referees as she attempts to avoid a suspension during the Indiana Fever’s final stretch of the regular season.
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she → say → season
Clark has accumulated seven technical fouls, leaving her one away from an automatic one-game suspension.
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Clark → accumulate → suspension
With four regular-season games remaining, the Fever star said she now tries to remind officials that she wants to work with them when discussing calls.
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she → remain → calls
"I feel like the refs might also know I have seven technical fouls, so I always try to warn them," Clark said.
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Clark → feel → them
"Like, ‘I’m working with you.
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I → work → you
I’m working with you.
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I → work → you
Like, let’s have a conversation.’
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’s → let → conversation
"
The adjustment, Clark said, has changed her interaction with with referees.
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Clark → say → referees
"I think it’s made my conversations with them more positive and more conversational in both ways for them and for me," she said.
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she → think → me
"I mean, I think it’s certainly been, like, a conscious effort about it, and I think it’s helped me play better basketball.
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me → mean → basketball
It’s just, like, focus on what I need to focus on, and let the last play go.
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play → ’ → what
Like, you can’t go back in time and change things."
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you → go → things
Under WNBA rules, a player or coach receives an automatic one-game suspension after being assessed an eighth technical foul during the regular season.
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player → receive → season
An additional suspension is imposed for every two technical fouls after that, while the totals reset for the playoffs.
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totals → impose → playoffs
Clark briefly appeared to reach the eight-technical threshold during an Aug. 8 victory over the Chicago Sky.
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Clark → appear → Sky
She was called for a technical after making contact with an official while going out of bounds, but the league rescinded it after the game, returning her total to seven and eliminating the suspension.
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league → call → suspension
Clark now has four regular-season games left to navigate.
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games → have → ?
However, she noted that she effectively needs to avoid another technical only during the first three.
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she → note → three
A technical during Indiana’s finale would not remove her from that game, and there would be no subsequent regular-season contest for which she could be suspended before the total resets.
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total → remove → which
"I really only have three more games to go because the fourth game starts — if I get a technical, I’m not kicked out of the game — and then it resets for the playoffs," Clark said.
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Clark → have → playoffs
She added that the new interactions have made her "proud of herself."
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her → add → herself
"I'm really proud of myself, but still three games to go.
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I → go → myself
And I think it's helped me learn a lot about myself and the ways that I can impact my team, and, you know, how to communicate with the refs," Clark said.
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Clark → think → refs
Clark’s interactions with officials have drawn attention throughout her WNBA career.
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interactions → draw → career
She has frequently expressed frustration over calls and the physical defense used against her, occasionally directing animated reactions toward referees.
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She → express → referees
Clark received six technical fouls in each of her first two WNBA seasons, finishing one short of the league’s previous seven-technical suspension threshold both years.
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Clark → receive → threshold
She has also acknowledged that her emotions can work against her.
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emotions → acknowledge → her
During her rookie season, Clark said she needed to do a better job of controlling her reactions because her team relied on her to remain on the court.
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team → say → court
That balancing act has continued as she has tried to preserve the intensity that defines her game without allowing disputes with officials to become a distraction.
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disputes → continue → officials
The Fever return from the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup break Friday against the Toronto Tempo.
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Fever → return → Tempo
Indiana will then host the Washington Mystics before finishing the regular season with consecutive games against the Minnesota Lynx.
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Indiana → host → Lynx
Indiana entered the break at 26-14 and had already secured a playoff berth, although its final seed remains unsettled.
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seed → enter → berth
Clark returns to the Fever after helping the United States win the World Cup in Berlin.
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States → return → Berlin
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