The Chicago Sky have committed more than their fair share of hard fouls against Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark, and Diamond DeShields was also in the mix on Friday.
The seven-year WNBA veteran fouled Clark twice in a span of 40 seconds in the fourth quarter of the Fever’s 100-81 win, the latter of which went viral on social media. As Clark ran with the ball in transition, DeShields collided with the rookie, knocking her to the ground.
The play was called as 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 case for Rookie of the Year honors over Sky’s Angel Reese, who in the same game set the WNBA rookie record for most double-doubles in a season.
Unfortunately, the backlash against DeShields for the foul reached toxic levels with at least one fan posting a screenshot after the game showing an account repeatedly complaining “that tumor should have taken her out.” DeShields was diagnosed with a grape-sized, benign tumor on her spinal cord in 2020, was at risk of paralysis when she had it surgically removed, and suffered from painful tremors during her recovery from the procedure.
In response to the fan, DeShields wrote, “Thank you God for protecting me, I pray you also protect those who wish me harm.”
It will come as no surprise that this person was not the only one to give DeShields commentary after the game.
It’s clearly not the first time Sky has made a game ugly against Clark. Chennedy Carter was the focus of a firestorm earlier this season after he shoulder-checked Clark. Like the DeShields incident, that too was met with significant backlash, including an incident in which Sky players reported harassment outside a team hotel. A subsequent video showed the person attempting to question Carter, but a Sky player said the video had been edited to prevent him from saying much more offensive things.
There was also a hard foul by Reese on Clark in another game. Clark’s rookie season has received unprecedented attention in the WNBA, but not all has been good, especially when Sky is involved.
Friday was the final regular season game between the teams. The Fever went 3-1 in the season series.
