The Indiana Fever’s 2026 season may be studied by historians for decades to come.
Caitlin Clark, Sophie Cunningham, their supporting cast, rival players and neurotic fans and critics combined to form a perfect storm of cultural chaos.
It pushed the WNBA to new heights in TV ratings and attendance, all while driving two sides of America further apart in a deepening cultural divide, sparking often-emotional debates on race and sexuality, day after day.
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The entire WNBA will be coming out of the season a completely different league than what it was going into 2026, as there will be a change in commissioner, all while two former NBA players are now declared for the 2027 draft.
Here’s how it all went down.
The Fever entered 2026 with championship expectations.
Clark was preparing to return after injuries limited her to just 13 games last year, as Cunningham was returning from injury too. Kelsey Mitchell and Lexie Hull re-signed to reunite the core that carried to the brink of the 2025 Finals. The Fever also added veterans Monique Billings, Tyasha Harris and Myisha Hines-Allen and drafted South Carolina guard Raven Johnson with the No. 10 pick.
Before training camp, Hull, who had become a fan-favorite in 2025, told Fox News Digital what it was like living inside the Clark-generated media spotlight that began in 2024.
“The most challenging part is there’s just so much scrutiny,” Hull said. “People need to know that everyone’s human. We’re real people. I think when things get blown out of proportion, when things get really personal and there’s personal attacks on people’s character, I think that’s where it gets over the line.”
Hull disputed the idea that opponents had necessarily become more physical with Clark, arguing that social media magnified every collision and missed call. But she acknowledged that the Fever’s massive following gave opponents extra motivation whenever Indiana came to town.
The attention also came with an upside. Hull told Fox News Digital that seeing young fans arrive in Fever gear and aspire to play professional basketball had been “the most rewarding part” of the Clark era. After Indiana came within one victory of the 2025 WNBA Finals despite losing Clark and Cunningham to injuries, Hull declared the 2026 championship goal “very achievable.”
But they had no idea what laid ahead.
Clark’s long-awaited regular-season return came in front of a sold-out Gainbridge Fieldhouse crowd on May 9.
The opener pitted Clark against Dallas Wings guard Paige Bueckers, another former No. 1 overall pick whose arrival gave the league a second young superstar capable of drawing enormous national attention.
The teams were called for a combined 53 fouls, disrupting a game that still came down to the final possession, as Clark missed a deep 3-pointer that could have forced overtime.
Hours after the loss, Clark joined country music star Morgan Wallen for his signature concert walkout at Lucas Oil Stadium. The hometown crowd roared as Clark emerged alongside Wallen, but the appearance immediately dragged her back into the cultural and racial debates that had followed her since entering the WNBA.
Critics condemned Clark for associating with Wallen, who was recorded using a racial slur in 2021 and later apologized. ESPN contributor Jayson Buford called the appearance “blatantly corny” and wrote that Clark was beloved “despite her proximity to the type of whiteness that is inherently scary.” Other fans criticized Clark for celebrating at a concert only hours after missing a potential game-tying shot in Indiana’s loss.
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Others accused Clark’s critics of applying a double standard. Jemele Hill noted that Peyton Manning, Travis Kelce, Patrick Mahomes, Myles Garrett and Marshawn Lynch were among the prominent sports figures who had participated in Wallen’s concert entrances without generating comparable outrage. Cunningham, meanwhile, celebrated her teammate’s appearance in an Instagram post.
Four days later, Clark picked up her first technical foul of the year during an 87-78 victory over the Los Angeles Sparks. After being called for an offensive foul late in the first half, Clark approached referee Jason Alabanza, clapped in his face and continued arguing as the teams headed toward their locker rooms.
“I think the refs are doing a tremendous job,” Clark told USA Network reporter Paris Lawson that night. “I deserved the technical they gave me. But it’s great for the game. They’re going to keep the hands off; they’re going to make the play be good. Obviously they called a lot of fouls tonight but it’s going to even out. So, you’ve got to give them credit. They’re doing the right thing.”
But coach Stephanie White criticized the referees after the game.
“A lot of us spent a lot of time in the offseason on various committees trying to remedy this officiating thing,” White said. “This felt a lot like last year to me. And that’s not where we want it to be.”
On May 17, Cunningham came off the bench and scored 17 points in an 89-78 win over the Seattle Storm. But her most viral moment came after she blocked former Indiana University star Mackenzie Holmes and celebrated emphatically. When critics said she was doing too much over one regular-season block, Cunningham responded on social media.
“HAHAHA ‘act like you’ve been there before’….. okay but the last I did this was against my 2 year old niece,” Cunningham wrote. “LET ME LIVE!!!!”
The Fever’s championship expectations began to buckle after consecutive losses to Golden State and expansion Portland. During a 100-84 loss to the Fire on May 30, Clark scored only six points on 1-of-7 shooting and was seen arguing with White during a timeout, fueling online speculation about a rift between the superstar and her coach.
Clark rejected suggestions of a fractured relationship when she spoke to reporters June 1.
“First of all, two people being competitive. Two people that really want to win,” Clark said.
White added, “I think what happened in that moment is I was challenging a player. It’s coaching. It’s what it is. I don’t often think it becomes an issue if you’re watching it in men’s sports most of the time.”
But Cunningham’s remarks the following day suggested the Fever still believed a serious internal conversation was necessary.
“We had a team meeting Monday — a long meeting — and so hopefully we’ve kind of turned the page,” Cunningham told reporters June 2. She estimated the meeting lasted between 90 minutes and two hours, began with the coaches and ended with the players speaking among themselves. She called the discussion “much needed.”
“We’re just too soft right now, and that’s not what our identity is, so we need to get away from that.”
The Fever briefly appeared to find their footing after the meeting. On June 8, Clark buried a deep 3-pointer with 1.2 seconds remaining to give Indiana a 78-76 victory over Washington Three days later, she produced 32 points and 10 assists in a 114-106 overtime win against Chicago.
Clark received another technical foul late in Indiana’s June 13 victory over Connecticut after exchanging words with Saniya Rivers.
Then came the renewal with Clark’s rivalry against Angel Reese, who was now a part of the Atlanta Dream.
The Fever then played consecutive games against Reese and the Dream in mid June. On June 18, Reese appeared to mock Clark for trying to draw a foul after the two made contact. Reese later caught Cunningham in the face with an elbow while battling for a rebound, although officials assessed only a common foul. Atlanta won 108-101.
Two days later, Reese swiped at the ball in Clark’s hands after Clark was fouled, prompting the longtime rivals to exchange words.
The brief confrontation quickly spread across social media as Atlanta won again, 113-96, as Clark was seen rolling her eyes while talking with White on the sideline.
The fuse was lit June 22.
During the fourth quarter of Indiana’s first game against Phoenix, Clark and former Fever teammate DeWanna Bonner became entangled while fighting for position. Words were exchanged. Players converged and the officials ultimately assessed five technical fouls.
Then Cunningham pointed right at Bonner.
Standing several feet away from Bonner, Cunningham extended her arm, locked eyes with her former Phoenix teammate and silently pointed at her for approximately 22 seconds. The moment was so prolonged, so unusual and so perfectly suited for the internet that it instantly became one of the WNBA season’s defining images.
Cunningham later explained that Bonner told her, “Don’t you point at me.”
That only made Cunningham want to continue.
“And I was just kind of pointing, and she is like, ‘Don’t you point at me,’ and I was like, ‘Oh, shouldn’t have said that,’ and I didn’t say a word,” Cunningham said on her podcast.
Then came the rematch that changed everything.
With 6:52 remaining in the second quarter June 24, Clark drove into the lane and fell onto her side after contact. As Clark and Phoenix players scrambled for the loose ball, Thomas dove toward the floor. Video showed Thomas appearing to press a closed fist directly into Clark’s throat.
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Thomas then rose and stepped over Clark as play continued.
The referees called nothing.
No personal foul. No technical foul. No flagrant review.
The replay spread across social media, where fans dissected the contact frame by frame and once again accused WNBA officials of allowing opponents to take non-basketball shots at Clark without immediate consequences.
Clark remained in the game initially but departed during the third quarter with a back injury and did not return. Phoenix escaped with a 111-109 victory.
White unleashed one of the most blistering postgame attacks on WNBA officiating of the Clark era.
“The fact that it was a no-call, it’s absolutely egregious and utterly disrespectful,” White said.
“We have a generational talent and a WNBA superstar who had two cheap shots right there that weren’t called,” White said. “She is not called the same way as everybody else is called. The fist in the throat is crazy. It’s crazy. It’s dangerous.”
The officials had missed it in real time. The league office could not ignore it on replay.
On June 25, the WNBA retroactively assessed Thomas a Flagrant-2 foul for a “non-basketball act,” concluding that she had recklessly made contact with her fist to Clark’s throat area. Thomas received a one-game suspension and a $1,000 fine. It was the first suspension of her 13-year WNBA career.
“Player safety should be paramount in our league,” Fever president Kelly Krauskopf said in a statement. “We appreciate the WNBA’s review of last night’s incident and the action taken. Right now our focus is on Caitlin and our entire team as we prepare for Saturday.”
The season would never be just about basketball after that, and it was still only beginning.
Thomas’s punishment divided the public.
Clark supporters argued one game was insufficient for an ejectable non-basketball act. Thomas defenders maintained that slow-motion replays and freeze frames made an accidental collision appear deliberate.
Clark missed Indiana’s June 27 game against Los Angeles with a back injury. The Fever did not attribute the injury to Thomas’ contact, and Clark had already experienced back trouble earlier in the season.
Meanwhile, Cunningham’s 22-second point became one of the year’s biggest sports memes. On June 30, the White House posted an edited video pairing Cunningham’s gesture with President Donald Trump pointing, transforming a moment of basketball trash talk into a national political symbol.
That same day, Thomas said she and members of her family had received death threats and racial slurs following the incident. She also criticized Commissioner Cathy Engelbert for failing to defend the league’s players publicly. Engelbert responded by condemning the abuse.
“We still have yet to hear anything from Cathy, it’s no surprise,” Thomas said. “As usual, she remains silent, and that’s unfortunate when our lives are being threatened.”
Engelbert responded later that day. “The WNBA vehemently condemns any and all forms of hate,” she said, adding that the threats and racial abuse described by Thomas were “completely unacceptable and not representative of the WNBA community.” The statement came only after Thomas called out the commissioner, intensifying criticism that the league had been reactive throughout the controversy.
Clark addressed the fallout July 3. She agreed that Thomas’ contact warranted a flagrant foul and said the league needed to improve its officiating and protection of players. But Clark also forcefully condemned the attacks directed at Thomas.
“The harassment, the hate — none of that is OK,” Clark said.
Day after day, the temperature rose. And every big to medium name in sports media was getting their turn with the thermostat.
On June 25, Boomer Esiason argued that Clark was denied respect because she was a “straight white basketball player” and should consider leaving the WNBA.
Three days later, ESPN analyst Chiney Ogwumike said Clark could “embellish contact” and suggested the league reacted to the optics of a viral freeze-frame.
On June 29, Emmanuel Acho declared that the WNBA would be “better off” without Clark because she had become more distraction than asset—even while crediting her with helping deliver charter flights, a lucrative media agreement and richer contracts.
The stakes rose into politics, medicine and even the Olympics.
On July 2, former Philadelphia 76ers orthopedic consultant Dr. Nicholas DiNubile gave a harrowing warning to Clark, telling Fox News Digital that as little as 10 to 20 pounds of pressure could damage the throat or larynx, while swelling or bleeding could rapidly obstruct an airway if she were to get hit in the throat again.
The controversy inevitably reached the White House on July 6, when President Donald Trump said Clark had been “treated rather rough” and called the Thomas incident “a pretty bad event.”
Two days later, 11 Republican House members led by Rep. August Pfluger demanded answers from Engelbert about what they described as repeated hostility and violence against Clark.
Their letter suggested investigations by the Justice Department, Labor Department or Equal Employment Opportunity Commission if discrimination or retaliation were creating a hostile workplace were on the table. The Fever said neither the organization nor Clark knew about or participated in the effort.
Jemele Hill called the GOP intervention “f—ing ridiculous,” while CNN’s Abby Phillip said Republican support for Clark appeared to exist “exclusively because she is White.”
Engelbert did little to regain control. On July 10, Dan Patrick said the commissioner canceled a scheduled interview on his show. Patrick said his staff had waited nearly two hours. Footage of Engelbert golfing nearby as he discussed the cancellation only made the optics worse.
On July 16, eight Olympians representing the United States, Jamaica and Germany told Fox News Digital that they believed WNBA had failed to adequately protect Clark and called for the league to consistently enforce its rules. The group included gold medalists Nancy Hogshead and Donna de Varona.
But the next night Clark reminded everyone why the entire country was arguing about her.
While operating under a minutes restriction, Clark erupted for a career-high 45 points, 10 assists and four steals in less than 30 minutes as Indiana defeated Seattle 110-107. She became the first player in WNBA history to record at least 40 points and 10 assists in one game, while producing the highest-scoring performance ever by a point guard or Fever player.
For one night, basketball reclaimed the story.
But it wouldn’t last.
On July 21, an ESPN profile revealed the now-famous or infamous quote from Cunningham: “I want to protect young girls in a locker room, or young girls in sport who shouldn’t have to go against biological men.”
The Fever’s second biggest star became a folk hero for the “Save Women’s Sports” movement.
The quote split instantly along familiar political lines. Cunningham refused to retreat when reporters questioned her July 22.
“I said what I said. I think it’s kind of common sense,” she said. “I think it’s really important to protect children, and that’s little girls who are also involved in that category.”
Clark, meanwhile, wasn’t done being used as a martyr to discuss racism.
USA Today columnist Nancy Armour argued that Clark’s alleged flopping and berating of officials fueled racist harassment and placed Black and queer players in danger. Armour invoked the murder of Emmett Till while connecting the controversy to America’s history of White women portraying Black people as threats. After intense backlash, Armour apologized for what she called an “inartful comparison.”
Clark appeared to push back on the cultural narratives during All-Star weekend, accusing the media of creating a “false characterization” of her and making accusations about her character without knowing her.
“It’s emotionally exhausting, it’s draining, it makes your shoulders tense, because you know, people don’t want to talk about the basketball,” Clark said. “They want to stir it up and make it something else.”
Former President Barack Obama then surprised the All-Stars at practice and encouraged Clark not to let the surrounding “nonsense” destroy her joy for basketball.
But a new storm was waiting for the Fever once All-Star weekend was over.
The Fever’s first game after the All-Star break was in Seattle against the Storm.
That night, Outside Climate Pledge Arena, Cunningham’s defense of female-only sports prompted banners, balloons, a life-size cardboard cutout and a billboard truck declaring, “Sophie supports women & girls! Save women’s sports.”
The rally was organized by independent journalist and podcast host Brandi Kruse, women’s-rights advocate Amy E. Sousa — known online as “Known Heretic” — and the group Women Are Real.
The rally promoted Washington Initiative 638, which would prohibit students defined as biologically male from competing in certain female-only K-12 sports and require medical verification of biological sex.
Supporters carried signs reading “Thank you Sophie,” “I said what I said” and “With love is truth.”
Counterprotesters arrived with LGBTQ flags and signs supporting transgender inclusion.
The divide continued inside. the arena Storm center Stefanie Dolson entered the arena wearing a “Trans rights are human rights” shirt. Cunningham was booed when she checked into the game and again when she attempted her first free throws.
Then during the game, two teenage girls wearing XX-XY Athletics shirts held a sign reading, “Thank you Sophie for speaking up for girls.” One of them was Washington high school runner Ahnaleigh Wilson, who said she had competed against a transgender athlete several times and attended her first WNBA game because Cunningham’s remarks made her feel supported.
The girls alleged Storm co-owner Celeste Keaton approached them and called them “f—ing insane.”
One day later, the story had shaken the nation, erupting on social media and across mainstream news. The Storm was forced to acknowledge the incident and apologized, before the WNBA later fined Keaton and suspended her from Seattle’s next five home games.
And Cunningham was quick to weigh in on the matter herself.
Cunningham reposted Fox News Digital’s report on X about Keaton’s punishment, writing, “I truly believe there is a safe space and love for EVERYBODY,” Cunningham wrote. “You can disagree and still be kind.”
She praised the teenagers for defending their beliefs, promised to send them gifts and called Keaton’s alleged conduct “truly embarrassing.”
The incident set the WNBA’s drama on a track from a hot topic in sports media into the spotlight of a one-month national obsession.
The “Save Women’s Sports” movement had found its road map in the Fever’s upcoming schedule after the Storm game.
The next stop was just down the West coast in Portland.
As the second Cunningham rally raged outside the Moda Center, once again pitting women’s sports advocates against pro-trans counter-protesters, WNBA coaches faced consequential questioning inside.
An OutKick reporter pressed both White and Fire coach Alex Sarama on their stances on whether biological males should be allowed to compete in women’s sports. Neither coach gave a clear yes or no answer, and their responses frustrated all sides on social media.
White’s response in particular, as the coach of Clark and Cunningham, drew national backlash all while her team was playing the game that night.
“I don’t think I’m educated enough,” White said, adding “I never believe exclusion is the answer.”
The answer drew prominent voices across social media, on both sides of the aisle, into the debate that had suddenly gripped the WNBA.
And that grip only tightened in the following weeks.
The first use of the term “Sophie Night” appeared in an OutKick article previewing the third rally that was set to take place in Minnesota for the Fever’s Aug. 2 game against the Lynx.
The name stuck.
On Aug. 2, Jennifer Sey, Riley Gaines and Michele Tafoya joined women’s sports advocates outside Target Center, where OutKick documented counterprotesters shouting slurs and security intervening during a physical confrontation. College softball player Kendall Kotzmacher later told Fox News Digital that one protester said she “should’ve been aborted.”
Inside, Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve wore a “Trans Kids Belong” shirt, while Gaines alleged an arena employee tried to make her lower a sign that read, “Sophie, thank you — a girl mom.” Gaines refused and later posed with Cunningham holding the sign.
On the sidelines, Cunningham said Reeve approached her for a face-to-face conversation in which both shared their perspectives and “left with love and respect.”
Clark, meanwhile, was finally pulled into the debate. She declined to take a side, saying the issue was for “leagues and governing bodies” to resolve with their athletes and that Indiana’s focus was basketball.
Then came the sleeping giants.
On Aug. 7, former NBA players Enes Kanter Freedom and Royce White announced they intended to enter the 2027 WNBA Draft while identifying as women, openly challenging a collective bargaining agreement that limited eligibility to “players who are women” but did not further define the term. White first revealed his plan exclusively to OutKick.
In response the WNBPA said transgender people should not be subjected to “hate, abuse and demonization” and declared that players would not be used as “political pawns.” Commissioner Cathy Engelbert called the subject “complex and nuanced” in a memo to teams and promised listening sessions and additional discussions.
Then Aug. 8 deteriorated whatever restraint remained.
As a fourth Cunningham rally unfolded outside Chicago’s United Center, Sky guard DiJonai Carrington struck Cunningham across the face and neck as she drove toward the basket. Carrington received a flagrant-2 foul and was ejected, then posted “WHITE PRIVILEGE” and tagged the Fever.
Carrington did not explain what the post meant or accuse Cunningham by name. There was also no evidence the foul was motivated by Cunningham’s position on transgender athletes. But Cunningham called the contact intentional and accused Carrington of seeking attention.
“This has nothing to do with race,” Cunningham said. “There’s no reason even to play that card.”
The fallout became nearly as combustible as the incident. Sports Illustrated changed a headline that initially described the hit as Cunningham receiving a “bitter taste of karma,” while ESPN’s broadcast did not address Carrington’s “White privilege” post. The WNBA also imposed no additional discipline on Carrington, who was allowed to play in the Sky’s next game.
White also faced initial criticism after saying she did not believe Carrington intentionally targeted Cunningham’s neck, even as she agreed with the ejection. Indiana Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith publicly called for her firing.
After reviewing the replay, White called the hit “egregious.” On Aug. 11, she delivered a prepared defense of her players and staff, denounced the “hate,” “fearmongering” and “divisiveness” surrounding the league and concluded, “Everybody else can go to hell.”
Some Fever fans booed her that night. Clark said hearing it made her “a little sick,” while Cunningham publicly stood behind her coach.
The next day, a league task force of team presidents and general managers discussed transgender eligibility but established no new standard. The WNBA said there were “no immediate eligibility matters” and condemned “bad-faith efforts” to demean or marginalize others.
But the rallies kept spreading.
At an Aug. 16 game in Atlanta, WNBA security ordered a mother and her 17-year-old daughter to cover their XX-XY shirts or leave. OutKick later learned that security also made a fan cover a “Protect Trans Kids” shirt. The league acknowledged the intervention “should not have happened,” while the Dream said its personnel were not responsible.
The game itself was one of the best contests of the regular season, as Clark and Cunningham escaped Atlanta with an overtime victory, avenging their earlier losses to Reese and the Dream earlier in the season. Clark was even seen laughing after Reese missed the game-winning layup.
Two days later, Canadian powerlifting champion April Hutchinson led the seventh Cunningham rally and the first outside the United States in Toronto, where a billboard truck was told by police it had to shut down its message in support of protecting women’s sports.
Aug. 20, ahead of the Fever’s game against the Wings in Dallas, the eighth “Sophie Night” had attracted Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who attended with his daughter in matching XX-XY shirts. Paxton told OutKick that he was monitoring the treatment of Cunningham’s supporters but announced no formal action.
New York delivered the largest confrontation yet Aug. 22. Dueling crowds gathered behind police barriers outside Barclays Center ahead of the Fever’s game against the liberty, where an OutKick photographer alleged his glasses were taken and officers escorted an OutKick reporter from a crowd of pro-trans protesters for his safety.
Inside, the Liberty displayed three paid messages welcoming transgender fans. But Fox News Digital exclusively reported that the team had refunded lesbian hip-hop artist Julie Potter after attempting to rewrite her message: “Thank you Jennifer Sey! XX-XY Athletics will Save the Day!!”
The circus reached its August climax one day later in Chicago.
Carrington had teased the rematch by posting “8/23.” But former NBA player Freedom stole the spectacle. Wearing a shirt defining a woman as an “adult human female,” he attended the rally and sat courtside before becoming embroiled in a shouting match with Sky guard Natasha Cloud.
Freedom said Cloud confronted him after he celebrated a Cunningham basket, alleging shouting at him “she’s not going to sleep with you.”
Sky ownership said Freedom became a potential threat when he stood and stepped toward the court during the interaction with Cloud, as Security removed him, and Sky principal owner Michael Alter subsequently barred him from future home games.
Alter told OutKick in an exclusive interview that some conduct does not warrant a warning, using firing a gun at someone as an “extreme example.” Freedom denied threatening anyone and threatened legal action while speaking to OutKick later that day. Freedom made good on his promise of legal action just weeks later.
But the spectacle ultimately produced the WNBA’s largest regular-season television audience in 29 years.
On Aug. 24, unnamed league sources reportedly said Freedom and White were ineligible for the draft and called their declarations publicity stunts. The league, however, did not publicly identify the standard used to reach that conclusion.
Freedom’s stunt also seemingly drew mimicry from White.
Four days later, White arrived at a Fever home game wearing a long blonde wig and introduced himself to OutKick as “Queen Roysha.” Fans lined up for photographs. Gaines was also in the building that night, and her adversary and Olympic legend Simone Biles was the team’s guest of honor for that game. Still, the guest that fans in the arena or on social media had the most interest in that night was White.
In less than a month, Cunningham’s comments had spawned a traveling protest movement, dueling demonstrations, accusations of censorship and racism, a league task force, two former NBA players’ draft campaigns and a courtside confrontation that ended with one of them banned from an arena.
The Fever were no longer merely a basketball team.
They had become a traveling national referendum for a divided nation.
The WNBA took a break from the chaos right at its peak.
The league paused for two weeks as Clark, Reese and Paige Bueckers joined Team USA for the FIBA Women’s World Cup in Berlin.
No partnership carried more intrigue than Clark and Reese. The two stars both accepted reserve roles, frequently entered games together and were seen laughing and talking on the bench. Their complementary styles also produced some of Team USA’s most electric stretches.
“We just continue to build chemistry because we know we’re going to be USA teammates for a while,” Reese said after their best performance together in the quarterfinals.
The Americans completed an undefeated run by defeating France on Sept. 13, capturing their fifth consecutive World Cup championship. Clark and Reese sat beside each other throughout the final round and connected on pivotal plays during the title game.
Afterward, OutKick asked Clark whether she and Reese were friends now.
“We’ve always been friends,” Clark responded while wagging her finger. “Don’t try to do that. Don’t try to do that.”
The exchange immediately went viral, becoming the subject of another heated media debate over whether the Clark-Reese rivalry was real, exaggerated or manufactured entirely by the press.
After the World Cup break dampened the discourse around women’s sports, Clark and Cunningham returned to WNBA action Sept. 18, and quietly finished out the regular season with two wins and two losses.
The Fever returned to Minnesota on Sept. 24 for their regular-season finale, where the final “Sophie Night” rally of the year unfolded outside Target Center. An opposing protester told Cunningham supporters through a bullhorn that they “should have been aborted,” while another repeatedly called the XX-XY Athletics organization a “hate group.”
Inside, Minnesota routed Indiana 86-66. Clark scored a career-low two points, Aliyah Boston suffered a lower-leg injury and Tyasha Harris had to be carried from the floor.
The Fever finished 28-16, fell to the No. 6 seed and drew the defending champion Las Vegas Aces.
Aces star and WNBA legend A’ja Wilson immediately delivered a reality check. She overwhelmed Indiana with 38 points and 16 rebounds in a 102-85 Game 1 rout. Las Vegas led by as many as 27.
Facing elimination Sept. 29, Clark answered with one of the greatest playoff performances in league history.
She became the first WNBA player to record a points-assists double-double before halftime of a playoff game and finished with 27 points, 15 assists and seven rebounds in Indiana’s 99-89 victory. A second-quarter technical foul only ignited her, as the Fever responded with a 24-6 run. Clark eventually fouled out with 2:45 remaining, but she had already forced the series back to Las Vegas.
Then the basketball game became something else.
Late in the fourth quarter, Wilson and Cunningham became tangled during a physical play. A male spectator behind the basket stood and pointed toward Wilson, prompting her to move toward him before teammates and officials intervened. Wilson received a technical foul, while the spectator was temporarily escorted from his seat and later allowed to return.
A witness told OutKick that the man had only shouted, “It’s on you!” Wilson offered a different perspective, saying the man had stepped toward her and that his gesture and tone were “unacceptable.” Fever security interviewed the fan and witnesses and found no Fan Code of Conduct violation. The WNBA later reached the same conclusion.
The league also determined Wilson had remained in a designated “player escape lane,” not entered the stands, explaining why she was not automatically ejected or suspended. Enes Kanter Freedom, who had been removed and later banned from Chicago Sky games after his own courtside confrontation, called it a double standard and told OutKick Wilson should have been suspended.
Cunningham naturally poured gasoline on it. The next morning, she posted a TikTok marveling at the “comeback year for the point,” invoking both the Wilson incident and her own viral finger-pointing confrontation with DeWanna Bonner earlier in the season.
Wilson got the final response.
Game 3 opened in open hostility. Just over three minutes into the winner-take-all contest, former Fever player Brianna Turner worked her way into Indiana’s on-court huddle. Clark shoved her out. Both players received technical fouls.
Early in the second quarter, Turner appeared to hook Hull’s arm and pull her to the floor. Officials called the foul on Hull. White, Hull and the Fever bench pleaded for a timeout and challenge, but the officials allowed Las Vegas to proceed with a free throw, closing Indiana’s opportunity for review. The Fever bench received another technical foul amid the confusion.
Indiana still twice pulled within two points during the fourth quarter. Then, with the Fever trailing 82-77 and 3:16 remaining, Jewell Loyd inadvertently caught Clark in the mouth with an elbow while battling for a rebound.
There was no whistle and no review.
Clark briefly left the court with blood pouring from her mouth. When she returned, she pulled down her lip and showed the damage to an official.
The Aces attempted 35 free throws to Indiana’s 20 in Game 3 and held an 89-58 advantage across the series, despite the Fever taking twice as many shots in the restricted area. White called it a “game of the margins” and noted the disparity after the game.
“Hmm, interesting,” Clark interjected.
But the officials were not the entire story. Wilson was.
She scored 36 points with 10 rebounds, while Clark and Mitchell combined to shoot 13-of-41. Las Vegas earned a 94-83 victory and eliminated Indiana for the second consecutive season. The questionable calls supplied one final controversy, but Wilson supplied the decisive answer.
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The Aces left with the series. Clark left Las Vegas with blood in her mouth.
Now, as the Fever and the WNBA as a whole will look toward 2027 with questions abound, as to whether Cunningham will be returning to the team, and what the new commissioner will mean for the league’s culture and Clark’s presence.
