Caitlin Clark is called out by Indiana’s Republican senator over WNBA racism storm

Caitlin Clark has been called out by Indiana Republican senator Jim Banks over the WNBA’s racism investigation that wrapped last month.  The WNBA announced the racism investigation the day after the Indiana Fever and Chicago sky met in the league’s opening weekend showpiece game, featuring an on-court confrontation between Clark and rival Angel Reese.  Reese had to be restrained after Clark knocked her down and caused her to spill the ball moments after she grabbed an offensive rebound near the end of the third quarter.

As tempers hit boiling point, Clark turned her back and walked away as players from both teams got between the two to stop things spilling over. Reese then walked to the side of the court where a Sky official stepped in front of her to try and get her to cool her temper. That led to the investigation, which found no wrongdoing. Moving on from the events simply isn’t enough for Banks.

‘Why isn’t the Indiana Fever apologizing to their own fanbase for putting them through that?’ Banks said to Outkick. ‘Those are awful allegations; they weren’t true, and the fans weren’t shouting racial slurs toward Angel Reese or opposing players.’  ‘Where is Caitlin Clark? Where is the Indiana Fever? Where is the WNBA, saying that there shouldn’t have been an investigation? The allegations were false. Where is the apology?’

Caitlin Clark has been called out by senator Jim Banks after the WNBA racism investigation

‘[Reese] accused the Indiana Fever fanbase of being racist, they investigated it, and said that the accusations were false. The least that she could is apologize to our great state and the fans that show up to these games and say, “I’m sorry, I was wrong.” Obviously she’s not going to do that.’  All parties involved tried to distance themselves from the situation after the investigation was completed.  ‘There’s no place for that in our game, there’s no place for that in society,’ Clark aid after the investigation was announced last month. ‘We want every person that comes into our arena, whether player, whether fan, to have a great experience.’

Reese had her time to speak as well, saying that ‘there’s no place in this league for that.’  ‘I think the WNBA and our team and our organization have done a great job supporting me,’ she told reporters. ‘I’ve had communication from everyone, from so many people across this league. It could happen to me, it can happen to anyone. And I think they’ve done a good job supporting us in this.’  Some tension may still exist as the teams play for the first time since the WNBA’s opening weekend on Saturday. Saturday’s rematch will be in Chicago, with a sold-out, pro-Chicago crowd expected.  Whether that means it will be a hostile environment for Clark and the Fever is yet to be seen as two team desperate for a win will face off. The Sky and Fever are a combined 3-9 this season.  Clark may not even play on Saturday, as she has been out of the lineup with a quad injury, with her two-week diagnosis reaching 14 days on gameday.