Caitlin Clark Video Shows Apparent Snub of Fever Teammate Tyasha Harris in Loss to Liberty
The Caitlin Clark drama in Indianapolis just found a new chapter.
A video circulating from the Fever’s Commissioner’s Cup loss to the New York Liberty shows Clark appearing to walk past a high-five attempt from teammate Tyasha Harris during a fourth-quarter timeout. The Fever were trailing 76-70 at the moment with 1:26 left, after blowing a 12-point lead from the second half. Indiana lost 83-75.
Social media did what social media does. The clip exploded.
To be honest, the video is not as damning as the headlines suggest. Clark has her head down. She looks frustrated. She walks past Harris, who has her hand up. It is a few seconds of body language that could easily be read as a snub or as a star player who just didn’t see a teammate’s hand.
The simpler explanation is probably the right one. Clark was in her own head after a brutal stretch. She didn’t notice.
But you can’t separate this moment from the larger story around Clark this season. She is averaging well below her career numbers, going just 4-of-14 for 10 points in the loss to the Liberty. The Fever sit below where everyone expected them to be. And the relationship between Clark and her teammates has been the subject of constant chatter, fairly or not.
WNBA fans are split into two camps. Half are convinced something is off in Indiana. The other half are tired of every Clark moment getting scrutinized like a Zapruder film.
Both sides have a point.
What is true is that the Fever entered this season with massive expectations and have not lived up to them. What is also true is that every star player has frustrated moments on the bench during a long season, and most of them never get clipped and shared to millions of people in real time.
Clark is the most scrutinized player in the league. Every facial expression, every glance, every hand gesture is going to be examined. That is the cost of being the biggest name in WNBA history, and she is old enough by now to know it.
The Fever need a reset. Whether the snub is real or imagined doesn’t actually matter, because the perception of disharmony is already out there. Head coach Stephanie White’s job is now to make sure the next clip from Indianapolis is of a team that is actually winning.
The drama can carry the league all summer. The losing cannot.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
