Christie Sides and Caitlin Clark (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
WNBA fans have already had enough of Indiana Fever head coach Christie Sides and her decision making with Caitlin Clark.
In a battle of the one-win teams on Tuesday, Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever faced off against Cameron Brink and the Los Angeles Sparks. Christie Sides, the coach of the Indiana Fever, is facing criticism once more for the manner she handled Caitlin Clark’s playing time.
Last Friday, in Los Angeles, Clark and the Fever defeated the Sparks for the first time in the 2024 WNBA season. They hoped to win again against the same team, but it did not work out this time.
In the latter minutes of the third quarter, with Indiana leading by four points, Christie Sides, the coach of the Fever, made the decision to take Clark out of the game. Clark was benched for barely three minutes as the Sparks went on an 11-0 run to take the lead. Many WNBA supporters urged that the team remove Sides because they were unhappy with her decision to exclude Clark from the game.
As Indiana fell to 1-7 on the season, Clark scored a career-high 30 points to go along with six assists, five rebounds, three steals and three blocks, via ESPN.com.
Christie Sides Has Made the Poor Decision Of Benching Caitlin Clark Once Before
Head coach Christie Sides encourages Caitlin Clark (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
This is hardly the first time that Christie Sides has made a questionable decision regarding Caitlin Clark.
In a previous game against the Seattle Storm, Clark had only scored five points in the first half. However, in the third quarter, she was on fire, making two 3-pointers on her way to nine points. With Clark on the court, the Fever overcame an 11-point deficit against the Storm. And yet, with five minutes left in the fourth quarter, Sides benched the top draft choice. That proved to be a very costly error.
When Clark returned to the game, the Fever were seven points behind. Despite her best efforts, she was unable to urge her squad to victory.
