Indiana Fever Coach Criticizes Caitlin Clark for Technical Foul

Getty Caitlin Clark reacts to a call against the Los Angeles Sparks on May 28.

The Indiana Fever are now 1-7 during the 2024 WNBA regular season, after losing to the Los Angeles Sparks 88-82 on May 28.

Caitlin Clark finished the game with 30 points, which is the most of her WNBA career to this point. She also had a technical foul with 2.7 seconds left in the first quarter after arguing with a referee about a foul call.

Fever head coach Christie Sides spoke with reporters after the game, and addressed her frustration about Clark’s technical.

“We’re spending too much time talking to the officials,” Sides said, per the Fever’s YouTube account. “We’ve got to leave that alone. We’ve got to just play our game and let them do their job and not put it in their hands… We shouldn’t get technicals. Let me get the technicals.”

This is the second technical foul Clark has picked up this season. The first came against the Connecticut Sun on May 20. During the fourth quarter of that game, Clark barked at a referee that, “It’s a f—ing foul,” after turning a ball over, per Fox News. 

Christie Sides Facing Backlash For Her Coaching

Christie Sides was hired as the Indiana Fever’s head coach on November 4, 2022. 

When she was hired, Fever General Manager Lin Dunn said, “Christie has all the traits I value. She is an excellent teacher with a high basketball IQ. She is a relationship person and a connector. Christie will be demanding, pay attention to detail, and will also make sure we defend and play hard. I love her energy and believe she is a perfect fit for our young, talented team.”

The Fever went 13-27 during Sides’ first season as head coach. Now that they’ve started this season 1-7 (despite now having Clark), fans are blaming Sides for their failure.

“Christie Sides deserves to be fired,” one X user wrote on May 28, in a reply to Sides’ comments on Clark’s technical,. “Fever don’t lose vs Sparks because CC’s technical foul. They lost because of Sides’ ineptitude in not knowing how to move her pieces, not knowing how to adjust and not knowing which players to count on. Stupid for her to say that when they lost thanks to her bad decisions, bad coaching, her lousy bench and when Clark had 30 points.”

Another X user wrote, “Oh boy. Christie Sides is hitting the self-destruct button. No accountability again, throwing her team under the bus, letting Aliyah get beat up under the basket and not challenging easy foul calls. CC’s tech was defending Hull getting an easy review call because CS won’t.”

The Indiana Fever’s Upcoming Schedule

The Fever have now completed 20% of their 2024 regular season. While their 1-7 record is not what they were hoping for, it’s worth noting that they’ve faced a difficult schedule to far. 

Two of the Fever’s losses have come against the Connecticut Sun, who are 6-0 in 2024. Another two losses have been against the New York Liberty, who are 4-2 on the year and lost in the 2023 WNBA Finals to the Las Vegas Aces — who the Fever have also lost to once this season.

In addition, no team aside from Indiana has played more than 7 games so far in 2024.