Ref had a hysterically-horrible reason for giving Caitlin Clark a technical

The WNBA season resumed after nearly a month due to the All-Star break and the Summer Olympics in Paris. That meant that fans could watch rookie stars like Angel Reese of the Chicago Sky and Caitlin Clark of the Indiana Fever play again. For the latter, the rookie had an eventful game on Sunday.

Facing off against the Seattle Storm, Clark picked up a technical foul from the on-court referee. The technical foul was assessed after Clark struck the base of the basket with her hand in frustration after the play.

This is Clark's fifth technical foul of the season, two away until a suspension by the league.

Caitlin Clark reveals laughable explanation why ref assessed rookie with technical foul

While speaking with reporters after the team's 92-75 win over the Storm, Clark said she hit the base of the basket out of frustration. From there, Clark said that the referee told her that this action was "disrespectful to the game of basketball." Clark said that it reminded her of when she received a technical foul in college at Iowa for saying "damn it." But Clark said that the foul fired her up to play harder.

The video below comes courtesy of Chloe Peterson of the Indy Star.

"It reminded me of the technical I received in college where I said 'damn it,' where it's like a personal frustration. It had nothing to do with my team, it had nothing to do with the reffing, it had nothing to do with the other team. It's just because I'm a competitor, and I felt like I should have been making more shots.

"But I think he fired me up to continue to play a lot harder. I thought I got a lot better after he did that, so I want to thank him for that."

Despite the controversy surrounding the technical foul, Clark did have a big game. In fact, Clark made history by setting the record for most assists recorded by a WNBA rookie by totaling 232 on the year. The record was previously held by Ticha Penicheiro, who recorded 224 in 1998 with the Sacramento Monarchs.

Clark recorded 23 points (9-for-19 from the field), nine assists, five rebounds, two blocks, and one steal in 36 minutes of playing time.

Even with the technical foul, Clark still helped lead the Fever to their fourth win in their past five games. Next up for Clark and the Fever are the Minnesota Lynx on Saturday, Aug. 24.