Chicago Tribune editorial board defends Caitlin Clark, likens Sky guard's hip-check to assault

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Caitlin Clark found a defender in the Chicago Tribune editorial board on Monday.

The newspaper’s editorial board published a full-throated defense of the Indiana Fever rookie after she was hip-checked to the floor by Chicago Sky guard Chennedy Carter in the third quarter of their matchup on Saturday. The piece likened Carter’s foul to an assault.

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Chicago Sky guard Chennedy Carter (7) is whistled for a flagrant foul for knocking down Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark on June 1, 2024, at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. (Brian Spurlock/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

"The foul committed by Chicago Sky guard Chennedy Carter was egregious," the piece reads. "Outside of a sporting contest, it would have been seen as an assault. Even within a sporting context, it was bad: before the ball even was inbounded, Carter came up from behind Clark, shoving her at the hip and knocking her over. Lip readers simultaneously construed a five-letter epithet dancing on the Sky player’s lips. She should have been ejected from the game."

The editorial board added that Clark hasn’t done anything to deserve the treatment she’s been receiving.

The piece also said Clark has more pressure on her shoulders than most players in the league and called on other players to take care of things, like the Carter foul, before it gets out of hand.

"They also are human beings and, in Clark’s case, a rookie player on whose shoulder rests more pressure than most if not all other players in the league are feeling," the piece reads. "She has to compete on her own merits, but basketball has rules and if the WNBA