There’s a huge problem between Caitlin Clark and her Indiana Fever teammates right now, and during their dust-up with the Chicago Sky, it was on display for everyone to see. It bothered one former NBA player so much that he couldn’t hold his tongue after the spicy game between the Sky and the Fever.
Take it from someone who relished being an on-court bodyguard for NBA greats like Kobe Bryant, Chris Paul and Blake Griffin: Caitlin Clark’s teammates aren’t protecting her enough.
Matt Barnes calls out Clark’s teammates
Matt Barnes‘ rant on social media didn’t place the blame on the Sky’s Angel Reese or Chennedy Carter or any other WNBA team for bullying Clark early in her career. That’s what’s supposed to happen.
Instead, he shifted the blame to the reaction of Clark’s teammates to the barrage of hard fouls and cheap shots she has faced in her first 10 games in the W. To be more specific, their lack of a reaction was unthinkable to one of basketball’s great enforcers of the 21st century.
“My issue and my question is where the f- are her teammates at?” Barnes said. “Y’all are supposed to protect the asset. Protect the star.”
The reason the Fever are 2-8
Although the Fever squeaked out a one-point win after Clark recovered from a brutal foul from Carter on Saturday, Barnes thinks the lack of togetherness has caused the team’s struggles overall.
“You guys are supposed to be a family,” he continued. “You wonder why you guys are sitting at the bottom of the league right now. It’s because y’all don’t protect each other.”
“Y’all should be ashamed of it.”
It’s no surprise that a player with 86 career technical fouls wants to see the Fever hit back a little bit, but maybe he has a point. The first player to stand up for Clark is going to win over a whole lot of people, starting with Barnes himself.