{"id":158191,"date":"2025-09-21T01:17:10","date_gmt":"2025-09-21T01:17:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/158191\/"},"modified":"2025-09-21T01:17:10","modified_gmt":"2025-09-21T01:17:10","slug":"caitlin-clark-fined-200-by-wnba-for-comment-about-referees-on-social-media-she-responds-lol","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/158191\/","title":{"rendered":"Caitlin Clark fined $200 by WNBA for comment about referees on social media; she responds ‘lol’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Caitlin Clark<\/a> was fined $200 by the WNBA for a comment she made on Instagram regarding referees following the Indiana Fever’s 77-60 win over the Atlanta Dream<\/a> in Game 2 of their first-round playoff series.<\/p>\n

The comments in question were in response to the Fever’s official account posting photos<\/a> of the team’s bench celebrating during their Game 2 victory with the caption “the bench was ROCKIN’ tonight.”<\/p>\n

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In response, Clark posted “Elite bench mob” and “Refs couldn’t stop us.” Presumably, that second comment warranted a fine in the WNBA’s view.<\/p>\n

After learning of the fine, Clark wrote a post on X<\/a> in which she laughed at the penalty. “Got fined $200 for this lol,” she wrote, followed by several laughing\/crying emojis.<\/p>\n

She then declared that the Fever bench would be even more raucous for Game 1 of their semifinal series versus the Las Vegas Aces<\/a> on Sunday. Indiana advanced by defeating Atlanta<\/a> in Thursday’s decisive Game 3 of their first-round matchup.<\/p>\n

“BENCH MOB WILL BE EVEN MORE ROWDY TOMORROW LETS GOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!,” Clark added.<\/p>\n

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At the Fever’s practice on Saturday, Clark told reporters “Hey, everybody! Go look at my tweet!” according to ESPN’s Alexa Philippou<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The fine drew further mocking from teammate Sophie Cunningham.<\/p>\n

“That\u2019s gonna really break the bank for her,” Cunningham posted on X<\/a>. “Starting a GoFundMe now!”<\/p>\n

Clark was paid $78,066<\/a> in the second year of her WNBA contract. Yet she earns millions more in endorsement deals with nearly a dozen companies, including Nike, Gatorade and State Farm. The Nike deal alone, which includes a signature shoe, will pay her $28 million over eight years<\/a>. In college, Clark earned $3.1 million in NIL income.<\/p>\n

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The star’s net worth is estimated to be $10 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Clark’s thoughts on the referees’ performance likely echo what Fever head coach Stephanie White and teammate Odyssey Sims felt during Game 1, in which Indiana was called for 19 personal fouls<\/a> and two technicals. (Although the Dream were whistled for 24 fouls.) Afterward, White said the officiating was “very frustrating<\/a>.”<\/p>\n

During her two WNBA seasons. Clark has had a tense relationship with referees, which might be why the league felt it had to do something, even if the fine seems paltry. As a rookie, she was called for six technical fouls<\/a>, one away from earning an automatic suspension.<\/p>\n

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The Fever begin their WNBA best-of-5 semifinal playoff series<\/a> versus the Aces on Sunday. Tip-off in Las Vegas is at 3 p.m. ET.<\/p>\n