Caitlin Clark got into it for a while with one of America’s gold medal-winning heroes in Paris.
During the second quarter of the team’s first game Friday night during the Olympic halftime at Cainbridge Fieldhouse, Fever Star took a tough but casual look at Mercury guard Kahlia Copper.
Clark, scrambling to stop a fast-break basket, came down hard across Copper’s arm, preventing the star guard from getting an easy layup or a potential and-1 — because Copper’s shot wasn’t off.
Copper, who scored 12 points in the fourth quarter of Team USA’s victory over France in the gold medal game, appeared to get into trouble on the play and was blocked by one of his teammates as he jawed at Clark.
Clarke, who picked up plenty of hard fouls in the first half of the season, didn’t understand what the fuss was about.
“It was a mistake,” Clarke appeared to repeat.
The No. 1 overall pick, who was controversially dropped from Team USA, did the talking with his play as he had 29 points and 10 assists in the Fever’s 98-89 win.
Copper led all scorers with 32 points and eight rebounds for a Mercury team that featured gold medalists Diana Taurasi and Brittney Griner.
“You know they’re going to come in here with a lot of confidence with three guys who won gold medals,” Clarke said. “You know their confidence is high and I thought we came out and really set the tone.”
The Fever’s Kelsey Mitchell and the Mercury’s Natasha Cloud had another hot moment in the game after Nalisa Smith’s tough screen.
Copper #2 of the Phoenix Mercury in the second half
on August 16, 2024 at Cainbridge Fieldhouse. Good pictures
Mitchell pushed the cloud, and the pushing continued as their teammates came forward to break it up.
Clark looked like a pretty relaxed break from basketball that included some fun in the sun on a boat with his Fever teammates.
