WNBA Fines Angel Reese for Not Doing Interviews After Losing to Caitlin Clark’s Indiana Fever
The Chicago Sky player was also caught cheering for Clark being aggressively elbowed
The WNBA announced on Sunday that Angel Reese and the Chicago Sky were each fined for breaking the league’s media policy following their loss to the Indiana Fever on Saturday. Reese was fined $1,000 for not attending the mandatory post-game press conference, while the Sky was fined $5,000 for failing to ensure all players complied with the league’s rules.
The Sky lost the first game of the WNBA Commissioner’s Cup 71-70 to the Fever.
The Sky brought Chennedy Carter and Kamilla Cardoso, who made her WNBA debut during the game, to the podium along with coach Teresa Weatherspoon. Reese not only wasn’t at the podium, but it appears she didn’t remain in the arena following the game.
The WNBA’s media policy states that each head coach and two players (leading scorer and key contributor) must be available no later than 10 minutes after each game for in-person and Zoom interviews. No more than three representatives of a team can be at the podium at the same time.
Following those interviews, in-person media can request any player not currently present to come to the podium. All players on each team are required to stay in the building until press conferences have concluded.
Carter was at the center of controversy following a literal run-in with the Fever’s Caitlin Clark in the third quarter. Reese was captured on video cheering after Carter threw an elbow at Clark. The foul was later upgraded to a flagrant foul on Sunday, which gave Carter one point toward an automatic one-game suspension (players are suspended after earning three points).
In an in-game interview, Clark commented that the elbow was “just not a basketball play.”
Carter initially declined to answer questions about the interaction with Clark. On Sunday, she posted about Clark on Threads and wrote “beside three point shooting what does she bring to the table man.”
Clark enjoyed a highly successful collegiate career that resulted in several records and titles. She was named Iowa’s all-time leading scorer, achieved the most 30-point games by a man or woman in Division 1 in the past 25 seasons and set multiple NCAA records.
On Sunday, the Fever’s General Manager Lin Dunn commented on Carter’s foul against Clark. She tweeted, “There’s a difference between tough defense and unnecessary — targeting actions! It needs to stop! The league needs to ‘cleanup’ the crap! That’s NOT who this league is!!”