Monday was a day of reckoning for the Sky.
Two days after Chennedy Carter’s hard foul on Fever guard Caitlin Clark — which was upgraded to a Flagrant 1 on Sunday following a league review — the Sky were ready to discuss it.
First came a statement from Sky coach Teresa Weatherspoon. An hour later, Carter, Angel Reese, and Weatherspoon all addressed the media at Sachs Recreation Center — where the Sky practice in Deerfield — with players speaking first.
“I’m a competitor,” Carter said. “I’m going to compete no matter who you are, no matter who is in front of me. That’s just what [the foul] was. Heat of the moment play, we’re going back and forth. It’s basketball. It’s all hoops. After we finish the game, it’s all love.”
Carter added that she has “no regrets” over the foul.
Physicality is nothing new to the WNBA.
Following Carter’s body-checking of Clark, clips of hard fouls other players have experienced over the years began to circulate on social media.
Carter’s foul occurred in the third quarter of the Sky’s 71-70 loss to the host Fever on Saturday.
As Aliyah Boston waited to inbound the ball to Clark, Carter approached the guard and body-checked her, which resulted in her falling to the ground. On the previous play, Carter took an elbow to the head from Clark.
Carter’s foul — originally assessed an away-from-the-ball common foul — was not reviewed by officials at the moment. On the broadcast, Reese could be seen jumping to her feet and clapping in response to Carter’s foul.
On Saturday, Carter chose not to answer questions about the foul, and Reese was fined $1,000 for skipping postgame media altogether. On Monday, Reese said her reaction to the foul was simply a case of having her teammate’s back.
Despite not responding to questions during her postgame interview, Carter took to social media.
“Besides three-point shooting, what does she bring to the table, man,” Carter posted about Clark on Threads in response to another user on Saturday.
Monday, Carter said the commentary on social media is part of competition.
“It’s all hoops, as you can see,” Carter said. “Everyone went on social media and let us know their opinions. It’s all hoops, it’s all fun. I don’t really take it serious.”
Weatherspoon said the team chose to wait two days before addressing the foul because they wanted to be “well thought out” regarding what they wanted to say. She discussed the foul in detail with Carter, which she felt resulted in her understanding that “disrespecting the game is not what we’re about.”
Carter was asked Monday if she felt her foul had crossed a line in any way.
“There is no line,” Carter said. “I’m competing. If you’re going to throw punches first, I’m going to compete. It’s all love. It’s basketball. This happens in the NBA.”
Reese took responsibility for not speaking with the media after the game Saturday. She added that she felt there was some “miscommunication” regarding the timeline for her request postgame.
Both players felt like this moment could be a galvanizing one for the Sky. They also referred back to Alyssa Thomas’ foul on Reese — which was called a Flagrant 2 at the moment, resulting in an immediate ejection — to reiterate the point that the league is physical.
The biggest difference between the two fouls, however, is that Thomas committed hers during a basketball play, and it was immediately reviewed by officials. Carter’s was committed before the ball had been inbounded and reviewed by the league after the game.
“I don’t think that really makes a difference,” Reese said when asked if players felt officials calling the play accurately in the moment would have made a difference. “The play that happened to me was even worse.
“I know [Thomas] is a great basketball player and it was a basketball play. It just depends on who it is.”
