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US tennis legend Chris Evert has taken aim at the WNBA and its players over the shocking skirmishes that left Caitlin Clark on the floor during the Indiana Fever's heated clash against the Connecticut Sun.
Fouls flew around the court Tuesday night as Clark and Sun rivals Marina Mabrey and Tina Charles were hit with technicals, while Jacy Sheldon was assessed a flagrant foul.
Clark was jabbed in the eye by Connecticut's Sheldon, who had previously been caught in a heated exchange with the Fever star, before being pushed over by Mabrey.
When the Indiana superstar reacted angrily to being struck by Sheldon, the latter's teammate raced over and slammed her to the floor in a violent moment which sparked outrage online.
Somehow she avoided an ejection from the game despite the shove being unprovoked, much to the dismay of WNBA fans - including Evert.
The 18-time Grand Slam winner questioned why Mabrey was allowed to remain in the game, calling out the optics of the attacks on the league's most high-profile star.
Chris Evert has taken aim at the WNBA and its players over the Caitlin Clark skirmishes
Clark was poked in the eye (L) before being shoved to the ground by Marina Mabrey (R)
Evert questioned why Mabrey was allowed to remain in the game, calling out the optics
'When will these ladies realize, accept, and appreciate @CaitlinClark22 is the best thing that ever happened to women's basketball. This is a bad look for the sport and what's happened to sportsmanship?' Evert wrote on X.
The 70-year-old former women's world No 1 shared the post in response to similar criticism from sports columnist Christine Brennan, who is set to release a book on Clark next month.
'The WNBA continues to fail to meet the moment. Terrible decision to allow Marina Mabrey to stay in the game. People are watching as never before. And this is what they see?' Brennan wrote on X.
Brennan and Evert weren't alone in the outrage at the league and its officiating as many fans, including Barstool Sports chief Dave Portnoy, took to social media to slam the decision to allow Mabrey to continue playing.
Following the bust-ups, both Fever and Sun staff were also critical of the officiating with Indiana head coach Stephanie White claiming that 'everybody [in the league] is getting better, except the officials.'
'I started talking to the officials in the first quarter, and we knew this was going to happen,' White said. 'You could tell it was going to happen. So, they've got to get control of it. They've got to be better.'
However, the WNBA came out Wednesday and admitted that Mabrey should have faced harsher punishment for her part in the on-court skirmish.
Mabrey's technical has been upgraded to a flagrant 2, which would have brought an ejection had it been dished out on the night.
Clark's enforcer Sophie Cunningham (second from left) also got involved in the melee
Meanwhile, Clark's teammate and friend Sophie Cunningham was assessed with a flagrant foul and immediately ejected from the heated contest late in the game.
With 46.1 seconds remaining in the game, Cunningham committed a blatant and hard foul of her own as Sheldon came away with a steal.
In retaliation, the Fever enforcer wrapped her arms around the Sun guard's head and pulling her to the ground in an act of revenge after her foul on Clark.
Another larger scuffle then ensued, with Connecticut's Lindsay Allen running over to defend her teammate and Sheldon popping straight up to shove the Fever player.
Tensions took a while to die down and at the end of it, Cunningham, Sheldon, and Allen were all ejected.
In addition to the standard fine that comes with earning a flagrant 2, Cunningham has also received a subsequent fine.
