Caitlin Clark says no apology needed from Chennedy Carter - ESPN

Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark on Friday defused any lingering issue over Chennedy Carter's flagrant foul against her last week.

Carter, the Chicago Sky guard, shoulder-checked Clark from behind before the ball was inbounded in what ended up being a 71-70 Fever win in Indianapolis on Saturday. The league upgraded the common foul to a flagrant foul 1 the next day after review.

On Friday, Clark was asked if she thought Carter owed her an apology after the foul was upgraded.

«No,» the star rookie said ahead of the Fever's game against the Washington Mystics. «Basketball's competitive. I get it. Sometimes your emotions get the best of you — it happened to me multiple times throughout the course of my career. People are competitive.

»[Carter is] having a tremendous season. She's played great basketball — in my eyes, probably in first place for Sixth Player of the Year. She's been great off the bench for them. She had 25 [points] here last night and really helped them win the game."

Clark has said repeatedly she tries to stay off social media, which has been inundated with the topics of physical play in the WNBA and how the No. 1 overall pick has been treated by other players.

Clark, however, said she's not concerned about it.

«That's just not where my focus is. That's not what I think about on a day-to-day basis,» Clark said. «I think about my team. I think about ways I can get better. It's just basketball at the end of the day. There's no grudges, there's nothing like that.

»It's a sport, it's competitive. It's not going to be nice all the time; that's not what basketball is. And I think that people that play that at the highest level understand that."

The Fever and Sky meet up again June 16 in Indianapolis.