Caitlin Clark got poked in the eye by Jacy Sheldon during the Fevers’ win over the Sun.
Caitlin Elizabeth Clark, 24, born on January 22, 2002, is an American professional basketball player for the Indiana Fever of the Women’s National Basketball Association.
She was twice named the national female college basketball player of the year while playing for the Iowa Hawkeyes.
Clark was selected first overall by the Indiana Fever in the 2024 WNBA Draft.
In her first season, she won the WNBA Rookie of the Year award and made the All-WNBA First Team and WNBA All-Star Game.
She set league single-season and single-game records in assists, broke the rookie scoring record, and became the first rookie to achieve a triple-double.
Fever’s Caitlin Clark Got Poked In The Eye And Bumped Hard To The Ground By The Sun’s Players
The Indiana Fever advanced to the WNBA Commissioner’s Cup final after an 88-71 win over the Connecticut Sun on Tuesday, June 17, 2025.
However, it was a bad-tempered game with fights and controversies, which will likely be remembered for a few physical altercations between the players.
The main talking point came in the 3rd quarter when Sun’s guard Jacy Sheldon poked Fever’s point guard Caitlin Clark in the eye while she was defending her.
Caitlin Clark gets called for a "T" after being poked in the eye and shoved to the ground. pic.twitter.com/XBlFphQtNx
— Sir Janos Wildman 𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧 (@JanosWildman) June 18, 2025
Clark then turned around and was bumped again by Sheldon before pushing her away.
Then, Sun’s Marina Mabrey came out of nowhere and bumped Clark hard to the ground.
Marina wasn’t ejected from a game but received a technical foul along with Clark and Sheldon, who were also given a flagrant 1.
Following the heated game, Fever’s head coach, Stephanie White, said there was no explanation for the technical foul that Clark received. She added,
“I think it was pretty obvious that stuff was brewing,” “When the officials don’t get control of the ball game, when they allow that stuff to happen – and it’s been happening all season long, it’s not just this game – this is what happens.”
Stephanie White
After putting Fever up by 20 points, Clark turned to give Sheldon and the Sun bench an earful before running back onto the court to hype up the home crowd.
Later, with just 46 seconds remaining, the Fever’s Sophie Cunningham fouled Sheldon hard as she drove to the basket, leading to a heated argument between both sets of players.
Cunningham, Sheldon, and her Sun teammate Lindsay Allen were ejected for the incident.
Clark finished the game with a joint game-high 20 points, including hitting four of six three-pointers, to go with 6 assists and two steals.
Following the match, Tennis icon Chris Evert took to her social media to express her frustration, calling Caitlin the best thing that ever happened to women’s basketball and questioning the state of sportsmanship in the WNBA. She wrote,
“When will these ladies realize, accept, and appreciate @CaitlinClark22?” “This is a bad look for the sport.”
Chris Evert
Moreover, adult film actress Kendra Lust also poured similar sentiments, expressing her disbelief over the lack of disciplinary action. She wrote,
“Poke to the eye more intentionally than a UFC fight, then another player comes and knocks her down,” “It’s either gonna be her getting hurt or a fight for the WNBA to finally take action.”
Kendra Lust
In Case You Didn’t Know
- At the youth international level, Clark won three gold medals with the United States, including two at the FIBA Under-19 Women’s World Cup, where she was named Most Valuable Player in 2021.
- Clark was recruited by NCAA Division I basketball programs before starting high school, receiving her first letter of interest from Missouri State before seventh grade.
- Her father, Brent Clark, is a sales executive at Concentric International and played basketball and baseball at Simpson College. Her mother, Anne Nizzi-Clark, who is of Italian descent, is a former marketing executive and the daughter of former Dowling Catholic High School football coach Bob Nizzi.
