Knicks star criticizes “stupid question” after Caitlin Clark incident

During Game 1 of the 2024 WNBA Playoffs between Indiana Fever and Connecticut Sun on September 22, Fever star Caitlin Clark was poked in the eye by Sun guard DiJonai Carrington while dribbling the basketball.

The incident sparked a lot of controversy. Carrington clarified that the eye poke was not intentional, but happened accidentally in the heat of the moment.

Before Game 2 of the Fever-Sun series on September 25, Carrington was again asked by USA Today's Christine Brennan about the eye-poking incident and whether it was intentional. Carrington replied that she meant no harm to the Fever star and that she didn't even notice her fingers touching Clark's eye.

Knicks star Josh Hart sharply criticized the reporter’s question and called it “stupid” via X.

Will Caitlin Clark’s first playoff end in defeat?

Despite the controversy, Clark himself downplayed the incident after Fever's loss in the first game on September 22.

“Obviously she hit me pretty good in the eye,” Clark told reporters. “I don't think it affected me. I took good hits, they didn't go down. It's a tough moment when something like that happens.”

Clark had a rare down night in her playoff debut, hitting just 4 of 17 field shots, including a paltry 2 of 13 three-pointers. Will the Iowa product bounce back in Game 2?

The Fever entered the September 25 game against the Sun as underdogs and lost the best-of-three series 2-0. A loss would not only mean the early end of Caitlin Clark's rookie season, but also the end of the Fever's season.

However, Clark remained confident of taking the series to a new level.

“We know we're capable of beating this team. We've done it,” Clark told the media via ESPN. “Obviously they're really, really good and we know it's going to be a challenge, but I don't think we're going to shy away from it. I think you just embrace the challenge.”

“We know we didn’t do our best [on September 22] and maybe the final score really does look like we got smacked, but we had six points. We had eight points. We just never really got over the hump.”

Fever has reason for optimism

Even if their season were to end on September 25, the Fever would have every reason to be optimistic about the 2025 season, especially with an emerging Big 3 led by Clark, Kelsey Mitchell and Aliyah Boston.

In Clark's debut season, the Fever ended an eight-year postseason drought, the longest of any active team in the WNBA. Clark and Co. can therefore build on their momentum in the 2024 season and make big strides in 2025.

Meanwhile, Clark and Fever aren't ready to go home yet.

“I do not want that [season] “It's over,” Clark said on Sept. 24, via ESPN. “I think it's been a really special year for our organization and our goal is to make the playoffs, but everyone in our locker room believes we can win this series. This is obviously a must-win for us and we believe we can come here and win.”

Clark finished her rookie season averaging 19.2 points, 8.4 assists, 5.7 rebounds and 1.3 steals in 40 regular season games. She was unanimously voted Rookie of the Year and also finished fourth in MVP voting.

Sai Mohan covers the NBA for Heavy.com. Based in Portugal, Sai is a veteran sportswriter with nearly twenty years of publishing experience, including contributing articles to Yardbarker, FanSided's Hoops Habit, International Business Times, Hindustan Times and more. More about Sai Mohan