The Indiana Fever are headed to the WNBA playoffs for the first time since 2016 and for the first time in the Caitlin Clark era. The 22-year-old rookie has rewritten sections of the league's record books over the past month, while also turning the Fever into one of the hottest teams in the WNBA.
Indiana currently occupies a top-six playoff spot. Clark's supporting cast of Aliyah Boston, Nalyssa Smith and Kelsey Mitchell are also playing some of the best games of their careers during the latest stretch.
However, a former NBA All-Star says the team is not yet complete and that a key piece is missing.
Many of the new fans Clark has brought to the WNBA have been highly critical of several flagrant fouls and other questionable hits that have been called on her this year. In four games against the rival Chicago Sky, Clark has been hit by three different players on three different flagrant fouls that sparked a visceral reaction from fans on social media.
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Chicago Sky's Diamond DeShields collides and is called for a flagrant foul against Indiana Fever's Caitlin Clark at Chicago's Wintrust Arena on August 30. (Michael Hickey/Getty Images)
Clark has avoided major injuries and hasn't let the knocks stop her from playing like an MVP candidate. But according to former NBA All-Star Joakim Noah, the team should try to fix the problem in the offseason by signing a player who can punish opponents who get too physical with Clark.
“If I owned Indiana Fever, I'd put a real goon in there to protect it,” Noah told Fox News Digital during an interview on “NBA Night” in the Emirates Suite at the US Open in New York on Wednesday.
Noah acknowledged that Clark may be getting picked on by opposing players because they are aware of the talent she brings to the table to make a difference on the court.
“Sometimes I feel like she's getting beat up because she's a very talented person,” he said. “But at the end of the day, we're in the business of winning games, so if I'm the owner [of the Indiana Fever]”I'm getting a real enforcer there.”
Many new and returning WNBA fans have been harshly critical of opponents who attack Clark. Sky rookie Angel Reese, who hit Clark in the head with her arm while trying to block a pass during a game on June 16, spoke about Clark’s fan attacks dating back to their college careers during her podcast on Thursday. Sky teammate Diamond DeShields committed a flagrant 1 foul against Clark, knocking the rookie to the ground, in a game on Aug. 30, then posted the hateful comments she received on Instagram.
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Chicago Sky guard Chennedy Carter, left, battles with Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark during the game at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis on June 1. (Brian Spurlock/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
However, Noah believes the physical treatment Clark has received has been great for the WNBA.
“I think it's great,” Noah said when asked specifically about the fouls against Chicago. “I think it's all entertainment.”
ESPN host Holly Rowe echoed Noah's sentiment in an interview with Fox News Digital last month.
“I think it's good for the game,” Rowe said. “I love it because it's supposed to be salty, that's why it's competitive, that's why it's a sport.”
Indiana Fever's Caitlin Clark reacts after a flagrant foul committed by Chicago Sky's Diamond DeShields at Wintrust Arena in Chicago on August 30. (Michael Hickey/Getty Images)
But even with the entertainment value that comes with the hits, Noah insists that Fever should address the problem by hiring a performer-type actor as soon as possible. It's a role he's very familiar with himself.
When Noah was a second-year player for the Chicago Bulls in 2008, the team used its first overall pick on star guard Derrick Rose. Like Clark, Rose was a rising rookie who stunned the league with his talent and often took a rough ride from opposing veterans. He was knocked to the floor dozens of times, especially when driving to the basket.
Noah, as one of Rose's longtime teammates on the Bulls and when the duo joined the Knicks in 2016, often came to his teammate's defense.
But Noah has also been on the other end of the physical game against transcendent talents.
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Chicago Bulls' Joakim Noah, center, reacts to a block by Miami Heat's LeBron James during the first half of the NBA Eastern Conference playoffs at AmericanAirlines Arena in Miami on May 6, 2013. (John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune/MCT)
Noah, as the team's defensive anchor at center, progressively became one of Chicago's most disruptive players, particularly when playing against superstar LeBron James. During his time with the Bulls, Noah played in 21 playoff games against James' teams, the Cleveland Cavaliers and Miami Heat, and became notorious for fouling and often getting up and yelling in James' face. Many altercations required referees to intervene and separate the two players.
Not only that, but Noah tried to make it a priority to tell his other teammates not to give James any special treatment because of his talent.
“I feel like people are fascinated by that and knowing that I had fans on the court, so that's something that was frustrating to me. So if I saw one of my teammates having that energy towards him, I was the guy that was like, 'You better stop that shit right now. ' So that was my role, people thought I was a hater because of that,” Noah said in the suite, while promoting Emirates as the official global airline partner of the NBA and the first-ever title partner of the Emirates NBA Cup.
So for Noah, as someone with experience on both sides of the situation, he believes it's a position the Fever are currently lacking.
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