The Indiana Fever might have a big Caitlin Clark problem

The Indiana Fever have had a less-than-admirable week. First, they suffered a 90-88 loss to the Golden State Valkyries on May 28, then they traveled to Portland, where they were handed a 100-84 loss. Ultimately, those two defeats sent the Fever down in the WNBA standings.

Their loss to the Fire was by far the poorest performance we've seen from this Indiana squad all season. Portland managed to maintain control for essentially the entire game, entering the second half with a 50-37 lead and finishing the third quarter up 87-62.

The Fever finished the night shooting only 41 percent from the field and a season-low 23-percent from beyond the arc. Their superstar, Caitlin Clark, was held to only 6 points, shooting only 1-of-7 from the floor. Her bad night, paired with some growing concerns about her defensive efforts, has sparked conversation. But an interaction between Clark and Fever head coach Stephanie White ramped up those discussions to a whole new level.

In-game tensions flare between Caitlin Clark and Stephanie White

After the Fever's loss to the Fire on May 30, a video of an intense bench exchange between Clark and White during the second quarter surfaced. In the clip, you can see Clark sitting on the bench as White is seemingly calling out the lack of defensive effort. Clark responds with some animated words before putting her hands up, possibly trying to gesture a defensive move. White had seemingly had enough as she told her to get off the bench and let rookie Raven Johnson take her spot. As Johnson sits down, Clark is seen shaking her head, now standing behind her coach.

This isn't the first time we've seen an outburst from Clark. Earlier this year, a video of a heated exchange between her and assistant coach Briann January was posted. This caused a bit of a stir on social media, with women's basketball anchor Cindy Brunson even saying, "Not only is Briann January a W champion. She made the WNBA’s All-Defensive team SEVEN times! Bri is a cheat code, but access requires open ears & a closed mouth."

But this most recent bench blow-up has taken the women's basketball world by storm, with just about everyone giving their thoughts.

Basketball alums give opinions on Clark's behavior

NBC's WNBA coverage is co-hosted by Olympic Gold Medalist Cheryl Miller and 4-time WNBA Champion Sue Bird. During their halftime show on Sunday, they shared their thoughts on Clark and the Indiana Fever. The legends took two different approaches.

Miller said, "Right now, it's frustration and unfortunately, it's boiling over and it's being seen. It's one thing to have it behind closed doors but when it spills over and the coach has to basically say, 'Hey, you know what Caitlin? Enough is enough. This is too disruptive ...'"

Bird agreed with Miller, but took the chance to admit that the situation is "not that crazy." She continued, "This is not the first time we've seen this. It doesn't have some deeper meaning to it. I've had moments like that with coaches. I think it speaks to relationships ... You have to learn each other."

Miller pushed back a bit, stating, "But you knew the line? You knew the line. When it becomes disruptive ... even Kelsey Mitchell kind of chimed in, like 'You need to go stand over here and let us just regain calm in our huddle.' When it becomes disruptive to the entire team, that's when somebody has to step in."

What's next for Indiana?

The keyword in Bird and Miller's conversation was 'disruptive.' Is Clark being disruptive to the entire team, causing the organization as a whole to suffer? Truly, only the people inside that locker room know the answer to that — we will most likely never be privy to that information. However, this is not a good look for Clark or the Fever. Not only are the fans seeing it, but so are their opponents. They know who's on edge and what buttons to push to gain an advantage.

Bird and Miller's third co-host, LaChina Robinson, asked them if interactions like this really impact the team and if there's more to it. She said, "At the end of the day, if you're winning, no one even blinks at that conversation in the huddle..." Bird responded, "I think in this game, it did (impact the team); they got off to a great start. They faced a Portland team that, when you give them any kind of confidence, they get rolling." She continued, "In the midst of that is foul trouble, a disconnectedness amongst the team. And yeah, the frustrations boiling over ended up having them lose this game..."

Whether you think the Fever should start to worry about Clark's behavior or not, one thing is for certain: She needs to work on her defense, or there will be more reason to panic in Indy. In their game against the Valkyries, we saw Clark singled out on nearly every one of Golden State's offensive possessions. With Clark as the primary defender, the Valkyries scored 28 points — the most surrendered by any primary defender in a game this season, per Trendy Hoop Stars on Twitter.

Miller said, "Everyone's talking about Indiana and their defense, or lack of. All the fingers are being pointed towards Caitlin Clark...Everyone this season is going to come straight at her because they want to see if she's physically able to keep up. She is, but now people are turning the corner on her, saying, 'We can get past her, we can score on her.' So, if I'm Caitlin Clark, I'm going to take this personally and do something about it."

We'll see how the Fever's defensive efforts progress through the season. If their offense and defense are what we know they can be, they're a fairly dangerous team. But low-scoring performances by their primary contributors, mixed with rising tensions and outbursts, mean no one wins.

More WNBA news and analysis:

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow