The Chicago Sky have committed more than their share of hard fouls on Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark, and Diamond DeShields got in on the action Friday.
The seven-year WNBA veteran fouled Clark twice in the span of 40 seconds in the fourth quarter of the Fever’s 100-81 win, with the latter going viral on social media. As Clark ran with the ball in transition, DeShields barreled into the rookie and knocked her to the floor.
The play was ruled a flagrant 1 foul on DeShields, giving Clark two free throws. Clark made both to reach a career-high 31 points for the game and also record the first 30-point, 12-assist game in WNBA history.
The game further strengthened Clark’s argument for Rookie of the Year over the Sky’s Angel Reese, who set the WNBA’s rookie record for most double-doubles in a season in the same game.
Unfortunately, the backlash against DeShields for the foul reached toxic levels with at least one fan. After the game, DeShields posted a screengrab showing an account repeatedly lamenting “that tumor should’ve took her out.” DeShields was diagnosed with a grape-sized benign tumor on her spinal cord in 2020, risked paralysis when she had it surgically removed and suffered painful tremors while recovering from the procedure.
In response to the fan, DeShields wrote, “Thank you God for covering me , I pray u cover those who wish harm unto me as well.”
Unsurprisingly, that person wasn’t the only person in DeShields’ comments after the game.
Obviously, this isn’t the first time the Sky have had a game against Clark get ugly. Chennedy Carter was the center of a firestorm earlier this season after hitting Clark with a shoulder check. Like the DeShields incident, that also saw a significant blowback, including an incident when Sky players reported harassment outside a team hotel. A subsequent video showed that person attempting to ask Carter questions, but one Sky player said it was edited to remove him saying much more profane things.
There was also a hard foul by Reese on Clark in another game. Clark’s rookie season has seen unprecedented attention in the WNBA, but not all of it has been good, especially when the Sky have been involved.
Friday was the last regular-season matchup between the teams, though. The Fever went 3-1 in the season series.
