Caitlin Clark denies claims she talks trash in WNBA, admits she'll only do it in self-defense
Clark's rookie year in 2024 and the end of her college career saw several confrontational moments with other players, sometimes including illegal hits on Clark.
Clark's fans levied much of the criticism for those situations against the other players involved, but some figures within women's basketball accused Clark of being a trash talker.
Las Vegas Aces head coach Becky Hammon suggested that Clark talks more trash than any other player in the WNBA.
"They jaw at each other, nobody talks more crap than Caitlin, too," Hammon said at a June press conference.
UConn women's basketball coach Geno Auriemma, during an interview on the "Make a Difference With Phil Martelli" podcast in November, said the reason why players go after Clark is because of her trash talk.
"Now she talks a lot of s--- on the court," he continued of Clark. "When people talk about the WNBA, 'Why are these people beating up on Caitlin Clark?' Because she talks a lot of s--- on the court. That's what makes her good. So she's not like this angel walking out there and everybody else is beating her up. Nah. She has got a lot to say."
After an infamous hit against Clark by Chicago Sky player Chennedy Carter in June, former WNBA player Chiney Ogwumike said during an appearance on ESPN that Clark was trash-talking before the hit occurred.
"The WNBA has always been a physical league. ... And on the full sequence of that play, Caitlin was talking, and in this league, no one backs down to trash talk," Ogwumike said.
However, Clark suggested that all of these claims that she talks trash are false during an interview on Netflix's "My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman."
"People say that I talk trash, I don't," Clark said.
Clark also added that opposing players don't talk trash to her either.
"No one really talks trash to me, honestly, I swear to you. Maybe it will happen next year," Clark said.
Clark also explained the circumstances that would prompt her to talk trash and admitted a time when it happened.
"The only thing is, if somebody says something to me, I probably will go back at you, but I'm not going to really start it.
"Somebody that did talk trash was [former Phoenix Mercury star] Diana Taurasi. But it was all in good fun. We were playing them at home, and she fouled me, like, pretty hard, kind of from behind. And I turned around, I said to the ref, 'It's intentional, you didn't go for the ball,' [and] she, like, came back at me, and I was like, 'All right, do it again.' And we just kind of kept going back and forth at each other, and then we went down to the other end."
Clark added that later in the game, Taurasi told Clark, "I just love you."
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WNBA sex toy controversy explained: Why are they being thrown on court at games?
Nobody knows when the next sex toy might come flying onto the court. This is the lingering problem with the who-done-it the WNBA never wanted to have to solve but must for the sake of the the players. It's a NSFW case with plenty of fallout for a league that is already dealing with CBA negotiations and possible shutdown alongside its growing popularity. What initially inspired mostly jokes and laughter has turned into claims of misogyny, conspiracy theories, multiple law enforcement investigations and, of course, sex toys being thrown onto or toward the court at as many as five WNBA games over the past 10 days. There's intrigue and confusion about the motives and what's actually happening here. The unfortunate trend is generating a wide range of reaction from players and fans alike. Though there have already been two arrests made in the matter, it's still unclear whether this is simply a viral prank popularized by social media or a more coordinated effort meant to target the WNBA and its players. Here's a breakdown of what to know about the WNBA's escalating sex toy problem, including some potential answers to help sift through this mystery the league and its players want to end: Why are sex toys being thrown on the court at WNBA games? Cryptocurrency meme coin creators say they are responsible for the sex toys being thrown at multiple WNBA games, and they are planning more "pranks." A group of crypto enthusiasts and traders launched Green Dildo Coin (DILDO), a meme coin intended to be lighthearted and perceived as a joke, in late July to protest what they describe as a "toxic" environment in the crypto world. According to the group's spokesman, who spoke exclusively to USA TODAY Sports, many smaller players in the space are struggling to keep up with the influx of influencers and scammers. "We didn't do this because like we dislike women's sports or, like, some of the narratives that are trending right now are ridiculous," he said. "Creating disruption at games is like, it happens in every single sport, right? We've seen it in the NFL, we've seen it in hockey, you know . . . fans doing random things to more or less create attention." More: Crypto group claims responsibility for hurling sex toys at WNBA games There have been two arrests made related to these incidents, but the crypto spokesman said those people were not associated with the group. Delbert Carver, 23, was arrested after throwing an object at a July 29 WNBA game in Atlanta and charged with disorderly conduct, public indecency/indecent exposure and criminal trespass. Carver told police, "This was supposed to be a joke, and this joke (was) supposed to go viral," according to the arrest affidavit. Kaden Lopez, the 18-year-old arrested this week after throwing a sex toy that hit a man watching the game with his 9-year-old niece in the crowd at a Phoenix Mercury game on Aug. 5, had a similar explanation. He called it a "stupid prank that was trending on social media." He bought the sex toy the day before to take it to the game, according to court documents. How many WNBA games have had sex toy incidents this season? As of Aug. 7, there have been reports of a sex toy thrown in as many as six games since the initial incident occurred on July 29 during the fourth quarter of the Atlanta Dream's 77-75 home loss to the Golden State Valkyries. A fan threw a green sex toy onto the court and caused a stoppage in play. An official kicked the sex toy off the court before it was removed by a police officer. The second incident occurred at the Valkyries' game against the Chicago Sky on Aug. 1 at Wintrust Arena in Chicago. A similar sex toy was thrown near the baseline during the third quarter and forced officials to briefly stop play. There were then multiple confirmed incidents involving a similar sex toy being thrown at WNBA games on the same day including onto the cordoned off court after the game in Atlanta involving the Dream and Mystics. A green sex toy was thrown on the court seemingly in the direction of guard Sophie Cunningham in the Indiana Fever's road game against the Los Angeles Sparks on Tuesday, Aug. 5. Sparks star Kelsey Plum kicked the object off the playing surface. There was another fan caught on a social media video (and subsequently arrested) for throwing a green sex toy at the Phoenix Mercury's home game against the Connecticut Sun on Aug. 5. There was also a social media video that went viral of a green sex toy that had landed in the crowd at the New York Liberty's game against the Dallas Wings on Aug. 5. Are WNBA players being targeted? Maybe. It certainly can't be ruled out at this point. The most recent incident involving Cunningham could offer some proof. She had recently warned fans on social media to not throw the NSFW item because "you're going to hurt one of us." Days later, it appeared to be thrown toward her during the Fever-Sparks game on Aug. 5. What are WNBA players, coaches saying? At first, some players laughed if off. Now, they're not happy. Here's a sampling of comments about the situation: Chicago Sky center Elizabeth Williams after the Aug. 1 incident: "It's super disrespectful. I don't really get the point of it. It's really immature. Whoever is doing it needs to grow up." Los Angeles Sparks coach Lynee Roberts after Aug. 5 incident: "It's ridiculous. It's dumb. It's stupid. It's also dangerous, and you know, player safety is No. 1, respecting the game, all those things." "I think you just have to continuously prioritize the players, because it's obviously safety, but also just so immature to me, like, I just hate that that's being attached to our brand and our name," New York Liberty player Isabelle Harrison told The New York Post. "This is like, let's be professional here. I get the jokes, and things can be funny, but it just gets to a point. So like, I'm just really over it, and I know other players are over it." "I would have picked that thing up and thrown it right back at them," former Phoenix Mercury star Diana Taurasi told Front Office Sports. Is the throwing of sex toys at WNBA games misogyny? It sure seems that way based on the available evidence (and a calculated and blatant example of misogyny, too). But don't only take our word for it. Cosmopolitan and Glamour have both already weighed in on the case. Their verdict: misogyny. Cosmopolitan: "There are people paying good money to attend a professional basketball game just to throw a (sex toy) at the players' feet. Why? To send a message; to tell women that they don't belong on the court and that their athleticism isn't as valuable as their sexuality. This is misogyny, plain and simple. … They don't care about what women deserve or how disgusting and violating their actions are. It's time for NBA players to stand in solidarity with their female counterparts and call this behavior what it is: unacceptable, sexist, and detrimental to the entire sport." Glamour: "The message behind a sex toy in particular is pretty unambiguous. The intent is to sexualize and demean the women players because they are women. And that is nothing new at all. If I had a nickel for every time a sex toy was thrown on the court at a WNBA game, I would have just three nickels. But if I had a nickel for every time a powerful female athlete was subjected to some kind of misogynistic backlash, I'd have enough money to fund my own women's basketball league." What is the WNBA saying? The WNBA issued a statement on Aug. 4 after Carver's arrest related the July 29 sex toy incident in Atlanta. "The safety and well-being of everyone in our arenas is a top priority for our league. Objects of any kind thrown onto the court or in the seating area can pose a safety risk for players, game officials, and fans," the WNBA said in a statement. "In line with WNBA Arena Security Standards, any fan who intentionally throws an object onto the court will be immediately ejected and face a minimum one-year ban in addition to being subject to arrest and prosecution by local authorities." This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: WNBA sex toy issue: The why, how and crypto behind game incidents
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WNBA sex toys timeline: Every incident involving fans throwing neon green objects at games
WNBA sex toys timeline: Every incident involving fans throwing neon green objects at games originally appeared on The Sporting News WNBA games have been plagued by an all-too-familiar sight as of late, with seven confirmed cases of bright green dildos being launched toward the floor in recent weeks. Four of those occurrences have seen the sex toys reach the floor. Another three have landed in the concourses. Multiple arrests have been made, while players, coaches, and media members alike have pleaded with the general public to stop the dehumanizing act. Nevertheless, the gesture — which could be argued to play on tropes regarding the league and its largely queer and largely Black population — continues to rear its ugly head at WNBA contests. Here's what you need to know about the recent incidents as well as their potential origins. MORE: Where Brittney Griner, Margo Dydek, & others rank by height in WNBA history WNBA sex toy timeline July 29: First sex toy tossed onto court during Dream-Valkyries matchup The first incident took place on July 29 during a matchup between Atlanta and Golden State. With less than a minute left in the game and the two sides level at 75, the green dildo made its dismount, flying from the stands onto the floor after being fired onto the court by a then-unnamed assailant. The device nearly made contact with a Valkyries player. It was disposed of by an Atlanta security guard, who whisked the object away with a towel. Aug. 1: Second incident occurs during Valkyries-Sky The Valkyries' Aug. 1 road clash with the Sky brought about the second occurrence of a dildo crashing onto the floor. The bright green apparatus was thrown onto the court early in the third quarter of the matchup, prompting a halt to the action. 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Two other incidents took place involving sex toys that same night — one during the Mercury-Sun fixture at PHX Arena, the other involving the Liberty and Wings at Barclays Center. While the sex toy touched down on the floor in Indiana's matchup with Los Angeles, the same couldn't be said in New York. The dildo fell short of the court, landing in the concourses instead. Aug. 5: Fans arrested for throwing green dildos at Dream, Mercury games An 18-year-old Arizona man was arrested after allegedly throwing a dildo towards the floor at the Mercury-Sun game. Police said the spectator pulled the sex toy from his sweater pocket and launched it toward the floor. It struck a spectator in the back. The man told police the gesture was a prank that he saw trending on social media. A volunteer at the arena followed the man after witnessing the incident and tackled him. Police reportedly booked the man on suspicion of assault, disorderly conduct, and publicly displaying sexual material. The arrest came days after a 23-year-old Georgia man was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct, public indecency/indecent exposure, and criminal trespass related to the July 29 incident at the Dream-Valkyries game. Aug. 7: Cryptocurrency group claims responsibility for some of the incidents, distances itself from arrests A collective of unnamed cryptocurrency investors claimed responsibility for some of the attacks on Aug. 7, revealing that the act was part of a rollout of a meme coin created on July 28. The meme coin's community, titled Green Dildo Coin, was erected to protest the "toxic" environment in cryptocurrency, according to USA Today. The people behind the cabal are unknown. But they're believed to have coordinated some of the incidents on social media, per The Athletic. Livestreams regarding the use of bright green dildos at WNBA games — likened to "giant green, aggressive, and erect candles" by the collective's founder, Lt. Daldo Raine (a spoof of Brad Pitt's character, Lt. Aldo Raine, from Quentin Tarantino's film, "Inglourious Basterds") — routinely featured disparaging commentary about the league and its players. 'The attention we created for a ($40) dildo and ($140) seats is next level,' said one member of the community, per The Athletic. 'This is empowering to every f—ing crypto community to start thinking outside the box. Get creative and do something that makes people actually laugh. Meme coins should make you laugh. Memes should make you laugh. 'This is a movement to me to empower the average f—ing teacher. I don't care if you have 100,000 followers or 10 followers. Your f—ing posts matter, they have the ability to go viral, as long as they're actually f—ing funny.' A spokesperson for the community called the gesture lighthearted and a "prank" in an interview with USA Today. They recoiled at the suggestion that they would attempt to harm someone or that the sex toys were disrespectful to women athletes. MORE: Ranking the best WNBA players in 2025 "We didn't do this because we dislike women's sports. Like, some of the narratives that are trending right now are ridiculous," he said. "Creating disruption at games is, like, it happens in every single sport, right? We've seen it in the NFL, we've seen it in hockey, you know... fans doing random things to more or less create attention. "We knew that in order to get a voice in the space ... we had to go out and do some viral stunts to save us from having to pay that influencer cabal, sacrifice our souls and the fate of the project." The spokesperson vowed that other "pranks" are on the horizon, but they're "a lot lighter, a lot more tasteful." They also claimed that neither of the two arrests had anything to do with them. The spokesperson's comments came hours after Donald Trump Jr. shared an AI-generated image of his father, President Donald Trump, watching on as a green dildo fell on a WNBA court. "Posted without further comment," Trump Jr. captioned the image. Aug. 7: Two more incidents of dildos being thrown at games recorded The Aug. 7 nightcap saw dildos tossed in yet another game. A purple sex toy was thrown onto the court in the waning moments of Atlanta's 86-65 win. According to Front Office Sports' Colin Salao, a second object was thrown towards the floor, but it landed behind the Dream's bench. Who is throwing sex toys at WNBA games? If the Green Dildo Coin community is to be believed, the people tossing green dildos at WNBA games are simply cryptocurrency enthusiasts unhappy with the state of crypto markets and copycats tickled by the image of WNBA players having to avoid sex toys being thrown at them. Those queried on the decision to launch bright green dildos at women's basketball players have, by and large, described the gesture as a "joke" or "prank." According to The Athletic, the incidents have precipitated a major windfall for the trading prices of $DILDO. Polymarket, a cryptocurrency-based prediction model, fielded bets on whether disturbances would occur during WNBA games, while the $DILDO trading price went up 22.7 percent between Aug. 6 and Aug. 7, according to coingecko, a cryptocurrency website. Why are fans throwing sex toys at WNBA games? Those in the cryptocurrency community have called the incidents light-hearted "jokes" aimed at casting a light on the current state of affairs in cryptocurrency. Raine said the goal of the disruptions is to "more or less create attention", he told USA Today on Aug. 7. "We knew that in order to get a voice in the space ... we had to go out and do some viral stunts to save us from having to pay that influencer cabal, sacrifice our souls and the fate of the project." The sex objects launched towards the hardwood have featured drawn-on sunglasses and the name of the meme coin. It's a reflection of the lighthearted nature they want the memecoin to represent, the spokesperson said. "We wanna shift the culture in crypto, and we wanna be the 1,000 against the one," the spokesperson said. The Green Dildo Coin community has plans of ratcheting up the disruptions in "lighter" and "more tasteful" ways in the coming days and weeks, the spokesperson explained. Whether that will quell the onslaught of WNBA incidents remains to be seen — Green Dildo Coin didn't claim responsibility for either of the incidents that ended in arrests, suggesting that copycats could be on the prowl. The spokesperson rejected claims that the gestures were disrespectful to women athletes. Whether the WNBA's players — a majority Black, largely queer and largely Black and queer cohort — accept that assertion remains to be seen.
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All-Star Allisha Gray's career year powers third-ranked Dream: 'Everything that you could want in a player, she's been this year'
CHICAGO — Halfway through the third quarter of the Dream's 86-65 win over the Sky on Thursday, Chicago's Kamilla Cardoso missed a layup. Atlanta's Allisha Gray streaked down the court, ready for teammate Jordin Canada to get her the ball. Gray flew over Chicago's Kia Nurse, drawing a foul and making the shot, then made her free throw. These are the kind of plays Gray has been making all season long, putting her in the conversation for this season's WNBA MVP award. During the Dream's win over the Mystics on Sunday, fans at the Gateway Center in Atlanta started chanting 'MVP' as Gray was at the free throw line. 'It's kind of cool that people pay attention to me and think I deserve to be in the running for it. I mean, it's nothing I ever planned, but it's cool to get the recognition,' Gray told Yahoo Sports Thursday night. While Minnesota Lynx star Napheesa Collier has a commanding lead in the MVP race despite her recent injury, it's hard to deny what Gray has accomplished on the court this season. She's averaging a career-high 18.9 points per game, ranked sixth in the WNBA. The win over Chicago was her eighth 25-plus-point game this season. Her consistency is impressive as she's had just one game this season where she didn't score in double digits. 'She's been great for us all year, on both sides of the ball. She's been a very efficient scorer, a very willing passer,' Dream coach Karl Smesko said. 'She competes on the defensive end. She is a great rebounder for a guard, so everything that you could want in a player, she's been this year.' Gray has long had the skill to be one of the league's best players, but her growth in Atlanta got a boost in the offseason when the team signed Brittney Griner and Brionna Jones. Both women are multi-time All-Stars and attract plenty of attention from defenders in the paint, and know when to kick the ball out to Gray on the perimeter. 'It's amazing. They're two of the top post players in the league,' Gray said. 'But not only are they great scorers, they're also great passers. They have a high IQ when they're doubled, they know to pass it out. They never force up bad shots. So I think that's what makes it great to play with them.' Gray was drafted fourth overall out of South Carolina by the Dallas Wings in 2017 and earned Rookie of the Year honors. She played well in Dallas for six seasons, but her career didn't truly take off until she was traded to Atlanta before the 2023 season. With the Dream, Gray has been an All-Star for three straight seasons. Her arrival helped make the Dream a playoff team for the past two seasons, but they were bounced in the first round both times. This year, with a new coach in Smesko and the revamped roster, Gray's play has helped make the Dream one of the best teams in the league. After Thursday's win over Chicago, the Dream's 19-11 record has them in third place in the league's standings. The top four teams earn home-court advantage in the playoffs, and the Dream own the league's easiest remaining schedule by opponent winning percentage. Another reason Gray has found comfort in Atlanta is the friendship she developed with teammates Naz Hillmon and Rhyne Howard. They were drafted to Atlanta in 2022, with Howard winning Rookie of the Year that year. When Gray arrived in 2023, the trio pushed each other to be better, on and off the court. 'It makes it easier, because we not only have chemistry off the court, it makes it easier for the chemistry on the court," Gray said. "So it's just great to have them too, as best friends. They make my job a lot easier." Though Howard is currently missing games with a knee injury, she has been an All-Star in three of her four seasons, and helped the U.S. 3x3 team win bronze at the 2024 Olympics. With Brittney Griner dealing with a neck injury, Hillmon has been asked to start more this season and has risen to the challenge. But this season, it's Gray who is turning heads, and her teammates are thrilled to see it. Hillmon said she was thinking earlier this week about how Gray is able to do so much on the court by sticking to the fundamentals, and that she definitely belongs in the MVP discussion. 'There's no fluff. There's no fake about it. She works so hard to get what she does. So I just think that she definitely should be in that [discussion]," Hillmon said. "But it's not just her scoring, like the attention that she draws so her teammates could be open. Her passing has gotten better, defensively, she's been an All-Star for our team. So I just think she does a little bit of everything that will put her in [the MVP race.]' Gray said she knew she had this kind of season in her, and now everything has come together. 'I always knew I could," she said. "Each year, I continue to improve in a lot of statistical categories, so I always believed in myself that I could play to this level.'
