Matt Barnes calls out Caitlin Clark’s Fever teammates after shove: ‘Y’all should be ashamed’
While basketball fans have been debating who was right and wrong in the dust-up between Caitlin Clark and Sky guard Chennedy Carter, former NBA player Matt Barnes was wondering where the Fever star’s teammates were during all of it.
During Saturday’s win over the Sky, Clark was given a hard foul away from the ball when Carter hip-checked the WNBA rookie to the ground, drawing an immediate foul.
In a post on Instagram, Barnes shied away from talking about the play itself, but rather talked about why Clark’s teammates were so lackadaisical to defend her after the shoulder check occurred.
“I mean, throughout the season, she’s been getting beat up. Hard screens, elbows, knocked down,” Barnes said. “It is what it is; she’s not the first, she won’t be the last. My issue and my question is, Where the f–k are her teammates at? Where y’all at? Where are the rest of the Indiana Fever at?
“I’ve seen a couple of girls smirk when she’s got knocked down, half-ass to pick her up. Like, y’all supposed to protect the asset, protect the star. And although this is a team, you always protect your star. I was someone who protected the stars. You f–k with Kobe, [Chris Paul], Blake [Griffin], the list goes on, it’s going to be a problem.
Barnes played 14 seasons in the NBA, spending four with the Clippers and two with the Lakers, along with time spent with the Knicks, Kings and Warriors among other teams.
The former player was known for his physical style on the court along with not being afraid to protect his team’s best players if he had to.
“You guys are supposed to be a family,” Barnes continued. “And you wonder why you sit at the bottom of the league right now, it’s because y’all don’t protect each other, man. Coach don’t do s–t about it, players don’t do s–t about it. Y’all should be ashamed of it.
“But the rest of the league is going to continue to test her. That’s what they’re supposed to do. It’s your guys’ f–king job to have her back, and to have each others’ backs. Got to do better, ladies.”
Clark has taken the brunt of the physicality from opposing teams this season and the Fever have struggled out of the gate winning just two games going into Sunday’s contest in Brooklyn against the Liberty.
The first overall pick in this year’s draft called the play “just not a basketball play” and Fever general manager Lin Dunn criticized the foul in a post on X on Saturday.
“There’s a difference between tough defense and unnecessary — targeting actions!” Dunn wrote. “It needs to stop! The league needs to ‘cleanup’ the crap! That’s NOT who this league is!!”