Rhyne Howard and Caitlin Clark.Rhyne Howard and Caitlin Clark (Photo via Amazon Prime Video)
If you thought things got tense between Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark in Saturday’s season opener, wait until you see what happened in tonight’s game between the Atlanta Dream and Indiana Fever.

In the opener, Caitlin Clark received a flagrant foul after preventing Angel Reese from scoring an easy basket. Reese went over to confront her longtime rival, but things didn’t get physical there.

But in tonight’s game between the Fever and Dream, Clark was involved in an even more heated altercation with an opponent. Late in the first quarter, Howard bumped Clark near midcourt while playing defense, leading to some exchanged words:

Howard was issued a personal foul on the play. After things settled down, Clark appeared to say, “I’m not scared of you” with a smirk:

Thursday’s clash marked the second of a home-and-home between the Fever and Dream. On Tuesday, Rhyne Howard recorded 20 points, two rebounds and three assists to lead Atlanta to a close 91-90 victory.

One of the main storylines during the 2024 WNBA season was the blatant physicality opposing teams committed on Clark, hoping to rough up and agitate the rookie. Clark was oftentimes frustrated, but it didn’t affect her all-world season stat line as she cruised to Rookie of the Year honors.

Caitlin Clark Has To Get Used To This

Caitlin Clark (Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images)
All Clark can do is learn to embrace what opposing teams are trying to do to her. The referees aren’t going to get every call right, but Clark will continue to draw fouls and give her team more opportunities if she maintains her composure and doesn’t fight back.

Then again, it would help if some of the Fever’s stronger players could step in and protect Clark when necessary. She’s one of the smaller players on the court and shouldn’t have to deal with all that physicality on her own.