Matt Barnes, a 14-year veteran of the NBA who earned a championship with the Golden State Warriors in 2017, is criticizing teammates of Caitlin Clark for not doing a better job of protecting her.
Clark, in a game over the weekend, got hip-checked by Chicago Sky player Chennedy Carter and elbowed by Angel Reese, both plays which sent her tumbling to the floor.
Carter was whistled for a foul which the league later upgraded to a Flagrant 1. Reese got away with her move.
The incidents prompted Indiana Fever general manager Lin Dunn to demand the WNBA “clean up the crap” as she defined the physical altercations in that particular game, and several others throughout the season, as other players “targeting” Clark.
RELATED: Angel Reese Cheers Teammate Chennedy Carter After She Drops Caitlin Clark With Flagrant Foul
Fever Need To Defend Caitlin Clark
While much of the reaction has been criticism of Carter for spinelessly dropping the Fever star while appearing to call her a “b—-“, and then refusing to answer questions about it, Barnes has a different take.
And he’s calling out Clark’s teammates.
“I mean, throughout the season, she’s been getting beat up. Hard screens, elbows, knocked down,” Barnes said. “It is what it is; she’s not the first, she won’t be the last.”
“My issue and my question is, Where the f— are her teammates at? Where y’all at? Where are the rest of the Indiana Fever at?”
It’s a good point. Carter spent much of her time on social media after the incident liking posts pointing out that Clark’s Fever teammates don’t defend her on the floor.
“I’ve seen a couple of girls smirk when she’s got knocked down, half-a– to pick her up,” added Barnes. “Like, y’all supposed to protect the asset, protect the star. And although this is a team, you always protect your star.”
RELATED: Fever GM Demands WNBA ‘Cleanup The Crap’ After Angel Reese, Chennedy Carter Go After Caitlin Clark
Draymond Green Wants The Fever To ‘Get An Enforcer’
Barnes isn’t the first person to suggest the Indian Fever needs to defend Caitlin Clark. Draymond Green, who is well known for his physicality on the court, also chimed in.
Green commented that the Fever, “better go get an enforcer” in a post about the incident on Instagram.
Carter, whose tough talk about the incident thus far has been exclusively behind a keyboard, stepped to social media and seemingly blasted Green’s comments.
“We grown asf & y’all talking about enforcer… man gtfoh, hoop or shut up” she wrote on X.
So grown is Carter that she had to turn the comments off on her post.
Barnes also said the Indiana Fever’s inability to defend their star is one of many reasons they are consistently the worst team in the WNBA.
“You guys are supposed to be a family. And you wonder why you sit at the bottom of the league right now, it’s because y’all don’t protect each other, man,” he said “Y’all should be ashamed of it.”
Barnes predicts other lesser players in the league like Carter will continue to test what they can get away with. Until the league or her teammates do something to stop them.
More about:WNBA
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