Caitlin Clark was fined $200 by the WNBA for a comment she made on Instagram regarding referees following the Indiana Fever‘s 77-60 win over the Atlanta Dream in Game 2 of their first-round playoff series.
The comments in question were in response to the Fever’s official account posting photos of the team’s bench celebrating during their Game 2 victory with the caption “the bench was ROCKIN’ tonight.”
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In response, Clark posted “Elite bench mob” and “Refs couldn’t stop us.” Presumably, that second comment warranted a fine in the WNBA’s view.
After learning of the fine, Clark wrote a post on X in which she laughed at the penalty. “Got fined $200 for this lol,” she wrote, followed by several laughing/crying emojis.
She then declared that the Fever bench would be even more raucous for Game 1 of their semifinal series versus the Las Vegas Aces on Sunday. Indiana advanced by defeating Atlanta in Thursday’s decisive Game 3 of their first-round matchup.
“BENCH MOB WILL BE EVEN MORE ROWDY TOMORROW LETS GOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!,” Clark added.
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The fine drew further mocking from teammate Sophie Cunningham.
“That’s gonna really break the bank for her,” Cunningham posted on X. “Starting a GoFundMe now!”
Clark was paid $78,066 in the second year of her WNBA contract. Yet she earns millions more in endorsement deals with nearly a dozen companies, including Nike, Gatorade and State Farm. The Nike deal alone, which includes a signature shoe, will pay her $28 million over eight years. In college, Clark earned $3.1 million in NIL income.
The star’s net worth is estimated to be $10 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth. However, other sources.
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Clark’s thoughts on the referees’ performance likely echo what Fever head coach Stephanie White and teammate Odyssey Sims felt during Game 1, in which Indiana was called for 19 personal fouls and two technicals. (Although the Dream was whistled for 24 fouls.) Afterwards, White said the officiating was “very frustrating.”
During her two WNBA seasons. Clark has had a tense relationship with referees, which might be why the league felt it had to do something, even if the fine seems paltry. As a rookie, she was called for six technical fouls, one away from earning an automatic suspension.
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The Fever begin their WNBA best-of-5 semifinal playoff series versus the Aces on Sunday. Tip-off in Las Vegas is at 3 p.m. ET.
