Matt Barnes, whose 15-season NBA career included four years with the Clippers and two with the Lakers, took to Instagram to call out Clark’s teammates for not having their star player’s back in such situations.
“I mean, throughout the season, she’s been getting beat up. Hard screens, elbows, knocked down,” Barnes said in a video posted Sunday. “It is what it is. She’s not the first, she won’t be the last. …. Where are the rest of the Indiana Fever at?
“I’ve seen a couple of girls smirk when she’s got knocked down, half-ass to pick her up. Like, y’all supposed to protect the asset, protect the star. And although this is a team, she’s the star. You always protect your star. I was someone who protected the stars …. And you wonder why you sit at the bottom of the league right now, it’s because y’all don’t protect each other, man.”
Golden State Warriors star Draymond Green suggested on Instagram that “Indiana better go invest in an enforcer … FAST!” Clark’s boyfriend Connor McCaffery, a former Iowa basketball player, liked a pair of X posts that expressed the same sentiment.
Carter responded to that notion Sunday with an X post, telling all those who feel that way to “hoop or shut up.”
