Fever's Caitlin Clark owns up after first tech of season: 'I deserved it'

Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark was whistled for her first technical foul of the season on Wednesday, May 13 vs. the Los Angeles Sparks.

As the Sparks and Fever were heading to the locker room for halftime, Clark was arguing an offensive foul called on her on Indiana's final possession. She continued to shout and gesture at an official during the duration of the Sparks' closing possession.

After the Fever's 87-78 victory, Clark took responsibility for the tech and praised the refs.

"The refs were calling it ... the refs are doing a tremendous job," Clark said "I deserved the technical they gave me. It's great for the game, they are going to keep the hands off, they are going to make the play be good."

The WNBA is tightening its standards around the number of fouls committed in games. The league revised its fine structure for technical fouls, flagrant fouls and flopping. The new structure, agreed upon in the league's CBA, raises fine amounts to 2.5 times more than the cost in 2025 but at a lower rate than the salaries for players. Technical fouls are fined at $500 for the first three before escalating:

• Technical foul 1–3: $500 fine each.
• Technical foul 4–7: $1,000 fine each, plus a warning letter from the league issued after the fifth technical.
• Technical foul 8+: $1,500 fine, plus a one-game suspension.

Caitlin Clark's health after back alignment

Clark played 31 minutes on Wednesday without any injury scares. The third-year player, who was limited to 13 games last season because of a series of soft tissue injuries, had to leave the Fever's season-opening loss to the Dallas Wings twice to get her back adjusted.

"The hardest part of injury is something I'm still really battling and almost struggling with is just the mental hump of getting over everything," Clark said before the game.

"I understand my body too well to a point now. ... You just become hypercautious about certain things."

Clark reiterated her back "gets out of line pretty quickly" but being able to get back into the season opener against the Wings actually helped her mentally.

"That moment where my back tightened up, I think I almost got confidence from that because I came back in and I played eight more minutes, so I felt great," Clark said. "... But it's going to take me a little bit to really get over the mental hurdle of trusting my body."

With 24 points, Clark looked to be in full form. She shot 1-of-7 from the 3-point line but dished out nine assists to help keep the Fever's offense humming. Clark added four rebounds, two steals and a block. She also had six turnovers.

USA Today women's sports reporters Meghan L. Hall and Callie Fin contributed to this report.