The hip check by Chennedy Carter that was heard around the world may have been caused by some kind of physical shoving or name-calling.
On Saturday, Carter committed a controversial foul on Caitlin Clark that has dominated the sports world ever since, and moments before that, Clark boxed Carter out with a high arm/elbow and then taunted her opponent on the floor.
Carter then responded with a sneaky shot and was called for a flagrant foul.
“I’m a competitor. No matter who I’m up against, no matter who’s in front of me, I’m going to compete. So that’s what it was,” Carter said Monday. “It was a moment of heat. We’re in it. Offense and defense are on the line. It’s basketball. It’s all basketball. At the end of the game, it’s all love.”
She added: “I don’t regret anything. No matter who I’m up against, like I said, whoever I’m up against, I’m going to give it my all. I have no regrets.”
Carter called it an impulse play, but it’s not hard to connect the dots between the moments that preceded it and what ultimately happened.
The Fever led by four late in the third quarter, but three straight Indiana errors led to both Clark and Carter going for loose balls.
As Carter and a Sky teammate tried to pick up the rebound, Clark reached out with his left hand and used his arm and possibly his elbow to push Carter aside.
Then the Fever scored.
Immediately after the score, Clark turned toward Carter and appeared to taunt him for several steps.
Carter made a jump shot on the Sky’s next attack and then tied it up with Clark before the ensuing inbounds pass.
Clark later blasted Carter for the foul in an interview with ESPN, and Carter was reprimanded by nearly everyone for the play.
“Yeah, that’s not a basketball kind of play,” Clark said, “but at this level of basketball, you’ve got to play through it. I thought we’ve been playing really physical and we’ve missed some bunnies around the rim, so hopefully we can nail it in the fourth quarter.”
