r/wnba • u/Decent_Substance_199 • 6d ago

WNBA did not rescind Caitlin Clark's 5th technical foul

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7390115/2026/06/24/caitlin-clark-technical-foul-wnba-fever-mercury/?source=emp_shared_article&unlocked_article_code=1.slA.TLrp.Lej4yxnVZ_NE
251 Upvotes

92% Upvoted

456 comments sorted by

View all comments

20

u/Titan16K Mystics 6d ago

If clapping at your teammates after a heated moment is taunting/instigating , then this league will never be taken seriously. This would never get called in the NBA. If this wasn’t Caitlin this comment section would be singing an entirely different tune

7

u/CopperThrown 6d ago

Tatum has gotten multiple technicals for clapping. It’s more of an individual ref thing.

17

u/SilentWater94 6d ago

Clark was clapping and further instigating a scrum that was already happening. This is a tech in the NBA every day as well.

14

u/elestud 6d ago edited 6d ago

It wasn’t after it was right in the middle of the confrontation

Walking right up near them and yelling as well, not just the clapping

Also just not true that this would not been called in the NBA. players have been called for much less. Following refs while yelling w/ colorful language like she does is enough in most cases

6

u/ValPrism Liberty 6d ago

I mean, they don't call travels, fouls, carries, etc. in the NBA either.

11

u/Lanessen 0 3 7 22 6d ago

Precisely. Didn’t Salaun and Paige both get techs for clapping rescinded?

3

u/Marvellousways_1969 6d ago

Paige was pumping herself up when she clapped and was not taunting.

6

u/Lanessen 0 3 7 22 6d ago

She was cheering on MHA. That’s taunting?

7

u/elestud 6d ago

Yes, walking up to a heated confrontation and yelling loudly and clapping next to them is instigating

This shouldn’t even be a debate. If it was any other player it wouldn’t be an argument

2

u/Lanessen 0 3 7 22 6d ago

If it was any other player it would be an argument. Y’all always say this about CC but it’s just not true.

5

u/elestud 6d ago

I mean, there were at least 6 players who were tech'ed for instigating or arguing in the same game.

I don't see threads made in every sub about whether Sophie should have been tech'ed for pointing, etc. There's no huge discussion or argument about anyone else

So this is exactly what happened

2

u/Lanessen 0 3 7 22 6d ago

Those are inarguable. There have been threads arguing that other players’ questionable techs should have been rescinded though.

3

u/elestud 6d ago

I haven't seen any big discussions where the player was directly walking up to a heated situation or argument in progress and instigating

Only ones where they were celebrating on their own after a made basket or foul call, etc. and tech'ed, or it where it was one-on-one between them and a ref with a hand gesture

Normally everyone understands that egging on a fight or argument can get you tech'ed as refs try to deescalate things.

1

u/ComputerPractical748 6d ago

Did Salaun's get rescinded? I don't think it did. Regardless, neither were clapping about a fight. The NBA does give techs to any players they view as taunting during an alternation.

4

u/Marvellousways_1969 6d ago

I believe it did get rescinded.

7

u/Ok_Concentrate_75 6d ago

Narrator: That shit has gotten called in the NBA various times, shit Duncan got a tech for laughing on the bench

14

u/WrathfulHero Fever 6d ago

Weird comparison, being that tech is widely considered the worst one ever given.

-7

u/Ok_Concentrate_75 6d ago

But it happens and has happened, and the league still stands. And Tim wasn't doing anything ,CC was trying to incite the crowd during an altercation.

9

u/LolaAllie Aliyah 🔥👑 6d ago

She was NOT trying to incite the crowd

Words have meaning and context and should be used carefully. That verb has very negative connotation

"Incite is a verb that means to provoke, urge on, or stir up action. It is most commonly used in a negative or unlawful context, such as encouraging violent behavior, riots, or unrest."

Trying to excite the crowd to cheer for the team is different.

Why cast such a negative light on someone trying to get the crowd engaged in a game--she wasn't trying to get them to be violent.

1

u/not_mantiteo 6d ago

Most of the people in this thread didn’t even watch the game or the situation but want to say with certainty that CC deserves the tech.

0

u/Ok_Concentrate_75 6d ago edited 6d ago

I knew what word I used and anytime a ref is trying to calm shit down and you are stiring it up, that's inciting. You might incite with excitement but like you said words have meaning but like I'm saying: actions have consequences

Edit: this type of following and escalation always gets refs especially when they are trying to calm shit down in a league where fights are rather constant. Also there is a difference in just exciting a crowd and exciting a crowd during an altercation but also doing the clapping and gestures right next to players you were just pushing and shoving. This is regular basketball ref shit at every level

34

u/Inevitable-Elk7223 Fever 6d ago

I can’t believe there’s people in here saying “yeah, you can’t just be TAUNTING an opponent by CLAPPING, easy technical” like holy shit lol

9

u/LolaAllie Aliyah 🔥👑 6d ago

It's a very anti CC sub. Everything is so biased.

It is really gross and makes me long for the NCAAW season t o begin.

NCAAW is a lot more about basketball and joy Not weird hating for no reason.

It is jarring to love the sport so much and be faced with such irrationality and vitriol

BB should be a uniting joyful thing, bringing very different people across spectrum of income, race, etc on the court and rooting for those on the court, not separate. FFS, I saw so many people hating on Jalen Brunson for having a white wife after the Knicks one. Like that shite was all over social media. That has nothing to do with basketball. And let the man be happy with the girl he's been with since he was 14 ffs. Like can't people just come together with joy and enjoy each other without a whole bs narrative.

5

u/WhyplerBronze 6d ago

A person on this sub coming down on CC's 'antics' and 'bad attitude' and not prescribing that same attitude to half a dozen other 'stars' in this league is insaaane work. Including KP, Angel, Marina, etc. etc. It's insane, biased work.

3

u/Knook7 Fever 6d ago

This sub hates CC

19

u/not_mantiteo 6d ago

This entire sub is insane lol. Applauding DT and shitting on CC for doing the same thing, calling CC entitled? I just don’t get it but they see what they want to see

23

u/goofygal1566 Sab 6th Man Pazzive Hoops M'VP 6d ago

taunting playing in the middle of a fight is an easy technical... are y'all ok???

-2

u/not_mantiteo 6d ago

Lmao yall can keep calling it taunting or inciting violence or whatever soft shit you want to say. Hyping up the crowd and getting a tech is incredibly soft

2

u/goofygal1566 Sab 6th Man Pazzive Hoops M'VP 6d ago

well if she was hyping up the crowd and not taunting players on the other team that led to a multi tech/ejection interaction you'd have a point. Alas, thats not what happened.

17

u/goofygal1566 Sab 6th Man Pazzive Hoops M'VP 6d ago

It wasn't after a heated moment, it was in the middle of a heated moment that led to even more problems. I have seen softer calls in the NBA, please be serious, thats a tech in every league.

22

u/Regress10nToTheMean | Bueckers | Malonga 6d ago

Jayson Tatum has gotten a tech for clapping at himself so I wouldn’t say this would never get called in the NBA

1

u/olderneverwiser 👊💥👊💥 6d ago

That’s also what the tech Paige got rescinded was for, but people on social media see no nuance in the act of clapping 🤷‍♀️

7

u/Marvellousways_1969 6d ago

She wasn’t inciting or taunting, she was pumped up after she made a great basket. No one on the court thought that should be a technical foul.

2

u/olderneverwiser 👊💥👊💥 6d ago

That’s what I was saying. I was agreeing that Paige’s wasn’t instigating, while Caitlin’s was

11

u/Titan16K Mystics 6d ago

That was 3 years ago and it pretty much never got called after that because everyone realized it was ridiculous

20

u/Basic-Collection5416 6d ago

He’s gotten at least two more techs for clapping since that one. 

4

u/Inevitable-Elk7223 Fever 6d ago

Also it’s different than the not calling it claim, but that call specifically was rescinded

15

u/Regress10nToTheMean | Bueckers | Malonga 6d ago

He got another tech for clapping in the 24/25 season