Sophie Cunningham says the cast ‘definitely targeted’ Caitlin Clark. What does the data say?

Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham has never been afraid to speak her mind, so it was only a matter of time before she commented on the recent controversy involving Caitlin Clark. Unsurprisingly, Cunningham has come to his teammate’s defense, saying “the league and the scouts are doing nothing to protect” Clark.

Clark left the Fever’s loss to the Mercury on Wednesday with a back injury after suffering what Indiana coach Stephanie White called “two cheap shots.” Clark will miss Saturday’s game against the Los Angeles Sparks on CBS and Paramount+, and has been ruled out indefinitely.

While a foul on a 3-pointer appears to be what caused Clark’s back, the incident everyone is talking about happened a few minutes earlier. During a game of loose ball, Alyssa Thomas kneed Clark in the lap and put her fist into Clark’s neck. No fouls were called during the game, but the league later reviewed the situation and upgraded the play to a Flagrant 2 and suspended Thomas for one game — who served Saturday against the Toronto Tempo — for “disrespectfully touching his fist to the throat” of Clark.

Cunningham calls the league and officials

In the latest episode of his podcast, “Show Me Something,” which aired Saturday, Cunningham offered his take on the situation. He then explained why no one at the Fever responded at the time, and laid strong charges against both the league and the officials.

“In real time last night, I didn’t see that happening,” Cunningham said. “None of our team saw it happen, because I promise you, if we had seen it happen, we would have been there [Clark’s] back. Unfortunately, this kind of shit happens in every single game [Clark]and the league and management are not doing anything about it.”

“You see videos of actual kneeling and cheap shots [Clark] throat,” continued Cunningham. “If [Thomas] if we do that to any of our partners, we will be angry. But definitely guide them [Clark]and the league and management are doing nothing to protect him.”

Cunningham has been fined in the past for comments he made on his podcast — and on TikTok — and it wouldn’t be surprising if the league did the same thing again here.

Are the opposition really ‘targeting’ Clark?

Are the opponents willing to hurt Clark on purpose? No. Are opponents trying to use physicality to their advantage against Clark? Yes. As Golden State Valkyries coach Natalie Nakase famously said last season, “We know [Clark] he doesn’t like you physically.” And sometimes, that way goes too far.

Despite missing most of his sophomore season, Clark has picked up nine hits since entering the league in 2024, Across the Timeline. That’s a lot for any player at that point. Note: This includes both Flagrant 1 and Flagrant 2 fouls, preseason not included.

Many glaring errors have been detected since 2024

Clark has nine fumbles in 72 games, including the regular season and playoffs, or one every eight games. Here are some of the more notable events Clark was involved in:

• Just 10 games into his career, Clark was screened by Kennedy Carter, a game that was upgraded to a Flagrant 1.
• Later in his rookie season, Clark was run over by Diamond DeShields, who was called for a Flagrant 1.
• Last season, Clark was run down by Marina Mabrey, a game that was redeveloped into Flagrant 2.
• Then, on Wednesday, there was the incident with Thomas, which, again, was upgraded to a Flagrant 2.

None of this includes errors in the standing position for Clark who may have a higher risk of injury. In May, Clark left a preseason game against the Dallas Wings after being fouled by Alanna Smith on a play that was upgraded to a Flagrant 1. However, as often as the Fever likes, such fouls are not upgraded. Such was the case with the Washington Mystics earlier this season, when Clark was cleaned out of the air by Cassandre Prosper. It happened again on Wednesday against Mercury, when it got to the foot of Valeriane Ayayi and came up to catch him on the back.

There are seven incidents highlighted above: four non-basketball plays and three fielding fouls this season alone. Only two of them have been called green errors yet, and three have been upgraded, including two to Flagrant 2 and one suspension.

Twice in the 25 games that Clark played in, the league agreed after he was about to make contact with him that should have led to him being ejected. Since Clark entered the league, there have been only four Flagrant 2 fouls — one to Thomas in 2024, one to Cunningham, one to Janelle Salaun and one to Isabelle Harrison — and all four have been reviewed so far, leading to immediate ejections.

Since Clark’s debut, he’s played worse than any other player, and the worst non-basketball contact he’s received hasn’t been handled well yet.

That says more about the skill (or lack thereof) of the officials than the opposition’s conspiracy to hurt Clark or the league’s conspiracy, but it makes it easy to understand why Cunningham says the officials “do nothing to protect” Clark. And what White meant when he said after Wednesday’s game that Clark “doesn’t get called the same way everybody else gets called.”