Caitlin Clark receives stern advice from her coach heading into WNBA playoffs

With the WNBA playoffs set to begin shortly, Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark will need to navigate around some challenges she's had down the stretch of the regular season.

Caitlin Clark was called for her sixth technical foul on the season against the Las Vegas Aces, with a week left to go in the regular season. The foul had left Clark one technical foul away from suspension.

Clark was not shy about her feelings on the matter, saying, “it stinks because I feel like half of my technicals this year, I got one for that inadvertent contact to the face in the Minnesota game and then two for hitting the stanchion of the basket,” per Fox News.

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Clark’s criticism of the referees continued, “One was a complete accident, and then the other two were just a little frustration with myself. So, I think I could have done a better job keeping my emotions in check, but at the same time, like, … really?”

Clark’s coach at the Fever, Christie Sides, chose not to back her player publicly, instead choosing to defend the referee’s decisions, telling reporters, “We've just got to make sure we let outside things have no control over affect us, especially early in the game,” before adding, “She just needs to move on to the next play.”

Sides continued by suggesting that the referees may not always make the correct decision, but that her players, Clark included, needed to “handle those things.” Sides also noted, “We can't let that affect us so much. The officials are the officials,” per Fox Sports.

Sides claimed her team had done a great job supporting Clark in order to keep her emotions in check during this pivotal point of the season.

Sides told reporters after a recent win that her players were, “just trying to make sure their teammate doesn't do anything that doesn't allow her to play...”

Clark, on the other hand, was open in her appreciation of her teammates, claiming they were, “babysitting” her to ensure she was allowed to play in the regular season finale against the Washington Mystics.

Clark also noted, “I think I did a better job. I still thought there were a couple moments there where I could have been a little bit better,” before adding, “my mom doesn't want that for me [getting technical fouls] either and I don't want to pay any more fines, so I'm done with that.”

This will be the first time the Fever will appear in the playoffs since 2016, per IndyStar.

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