Caitlin Clark will join Kelsey Mitchell and her teammates on Tuesday for their game against the New York Liberty, after all.
TL;DR
- During the third quarter of Saturday’s Fever-Sky matchup, Clark received a technical foul for “intentionally” making contact with an official.
- With eight technical fouls, league policy mandates that Clark would have been suspended for at least one game.
- Shortly after the game, news broke that the WNBA had elected to rescind the technical foul, allowing her to play on Tuesday against the New York Liberty on ESPN.
On Saturday, August 8, 2026, the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) rescinded a technical foul given to Caitlin Clark during the Indiana Fever’s four-point win against the Chicago Sky, sparing the all-star guard from a one-game suspension.
With approximately 75 seconds left in the third quarter, Clark dribbled up the court as the Fever led by 10 points. Guarded by Natasha Cloud, the Fever star drove toward the basket, but ultimately decided to pass the ball to Myisha Hines-Allen instead of going up for a contested layup. Immediately after passing the ball, Clark’s arm appeared to make contact with an official as she spun around and re-entered the field of play near the three-point line. As her teammate, Kesley Mitchell, went up for a shot off of a pass from Allen, a whistle was blown, and Clark received a technical foul, he eighth of the season.
After the game, Crew chief Maj Forsberg told ESPN that the official had “deemed that Clark intentionally made contact; therefore, a technical foul was assessed.” Indiana Fever Head Coach Stephanie White pushed back against the call, saying it was “incidental contact when you’re flying out of control.” Ultimately, the league sided with the Fever.
Per league policy, a player must be suspended for at least one game after receiving eight technical fouls in a season. However, the reversal will allow Clark to join the Fever at home against the New York Liberty on Tuesday.
Heading into Sunday’s matchup against A’ja Wilson and the Las Vegas Aces, the Liberty sit in the eighth and final playoff spot. The Liberty currently enjoy a comfy six-game lead on the ninth-seeded Portland Fire, but wins against the third-place Aces and fourth-place Fever would help New York gain higher ground against the sixth-place Washington Mystics and seventh-place Dallas Wings, with whom they are currently tied in the standings.
Similarly, the Fever are firmly in the playoff picture, but they are in need of some big wins down the stretch as they fight for home-court advantage in the postseason. Five and a half games back of the Minnesota Lynx, first place seems a bit out of reach, but sitting only 2.5 games back of the Golden State Valkyries and two games back of the Aces, they could set themselves up for home-court advantage through at least the first two rounds of the postseason.
