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Good morning! Be the face of your own league today. Inside:Clark’s no-fun third season
Cape Verde make knockouts
Toronto takes McKenna No. 1
Bummers: A grim turn in Clark’s third season
Caitlin Clark has been tracking toward the best statistical season of her three-year WNBA career. But now she’s both injured and in the middle of yet another league controversy.
The actual basketball has been good. Clark is averaging a career-high 21 points while assisting on 46.5 percent of her teammates’ made shots when she’s on the floor. The latter is the highest mark in the WNBA. She has appeared in all but one of the Fever’s first 18 games. The team has been fine, sitting third in the East with a 10-8 record heading into a nationally televised game tonight against the Los Angeles Sparks (8 p.m. ET on CBS).
Clark won’t be playing tonight, however, as she deals with a back injury. It’s the latest in a handful of injury struggles Clark has had as a professional, and this one comes against the backdrop of an intense debate over how fouls against (and committed by) Clark are officiated.
Since Clark entered the league, opponents have defended her with zeal, as one would expect. Sometimes their fouls have been flagrant, and they haven’t always been called that way on the court. Has Clark been targeted while the league’s officials have declared open season on her, or is the league merely treating her like any other player? This week, it felt like the former, as Clark faced two uncalled “cheap shots” (her coach’s words) by members of the Phoenix Mercury. It’s not clear if those plays led to the injury that now has Clark on the shelf.
Some of the roughing-up of Clark has been over the top, unnecessary and uncalled. There was no reason why Alyssa Thomas needed to press her fist on Clark’s neck during a loose-ball scramble Wednesday. The league agreed after the fact, when it ruled the play was a Flagrant 2 and gave Thomas the associated one-game suspension. You can see why the Fever are so angry, given Clark’s injury history.
Meanwhile, the WNBA remains stuck in a multifront argument over how Clark should be recognized. This week brought an internet furor over Clark (maybe the league’s most famous player ever) and Diana Taurasi (one of its most accomplished) not appearing on a commemorative poster celebrating the WNBA’s 30th year. (It may well have been a licensing limitation.) Whether the league appreciates Clark, or how much it should appreciate her, is a constant, exhausting debate.
At the same time, Clark is running up technical fouls of her own. Officials have called five on her this season. Clark called the last one “ridiculous” as she came within three techs of a mandated suspension. As Brian Hamilton wrote this week, Clark and the league are in a push-and-pull over how much a star of her magnitude should influence the shape of the league — and, implicitly, how much leeway she should get from the refs.
You might argue that Clark wants to be above the law in the WNBA. But one might also argue the WNBA is effectively putting her below the law when referees don’t whistle obvious violations against her. As ever, all of this is more intense because Clark is a White player who has become the de facto face of a majority-Black league. This often adds an extra, inflammatory layer to debates about how Clark is treated. There’s a normal, reasonable way to talk about this player, but it continues to elude lots of people.
Further reading: I really liked this piece by The Ringer’s Seerat Sohi on Clark, too.
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News to Know
The smallest knockout nation ever
Cape Verde is about the size of Rhode Island, has fewer people than Wyoming, and is through to the knockout stages of the World Cup after a 0-0 draw against Saudi Arabia they had every chance of winning. Here’s the moment they knew for sure:
Just look at the chart in this story on the transfer value of their players versus soccer’s giants — one of which, champions Argentina, they’ll play next. Crazy. On the flip side, it’s heartbreak for Uruguay after a howler from keeper Fernando Muslera was the difference against Spain.
Also of note: France’s Ousmane Dembélé scored a hat trick in 32 minutes while Erling Haaland sat for Norway, Senegal pummeled 10-man Iraq, Iran’s would-be stoppage-time winner was a toe offsides and Belgium thrashed New Zealand to win their group and set up a possible round of 16 matchup with USMNT. The group stage wraps up tonight; viewing details below and forecasts for every team here.
Leafs select McKenna with top pick
It was no surprise to see Toronto select Penn State’s Gavin McKenna with the top pick in the NHL Draft — scouts see him as a potential 100-point guy — but it was … slightly surprising, at least, to see Justin Bieber up there. More on McKenna here, and pick-by-pick details here.
There were a few significant draft-day deals: The Ducks swapped former No. 3 overall pick Mason McTavish to the Blues; the Mammoth traded forward JJ Peterka to the Bruins; and the Rangers snagged Golden Knights’ top goalscorer Pavel Dorofeyev and then signed him to a seven-year extension.
More News
The Mets fired manager Carlos Mendoza after a 34-47 start with MLB’s second-highest payroll. Everyone knows who’s mostly to blame, writes Ken Rosenthal.
The Angels fired GM Perry Minasian, too. Longtime Cardinals executive John Mozeliak will take over for now. More here.
A sentence we could probably start writing in advance: Brewers flamethrower Jacob Misiorowski set a new record for fastest pitch by a starter. This time: 105.5 mph.
Before this World Cup started, USMNT head coach Mauricio Pochettino was offered a contract extension that would take him through the next one.
The CFL won’t be an option for quarterback Brendan Sorsby in 2026. Story here.
The Thunder traded one Isaiah, Joe, to the Pistons for a couple of second-round picks, while signing the other, Hartenstein, to a three-year $75 million extension.
Find more news here 24/7.
Watch Guide
Golf: Women’s PGA Championship
12 p.m. ET on NBC
Moving day at the ladies’ third major of the season. Everyone’s chasing Ina Yoon (-13), who’s six shots clear of the field and has a handful of fellow South Koreans right behind her.
World Cup: D.R. Congo vs. Uzbekistan
7:30 p.m. ET on FS1
The round of 32 begins tomorrow. Much of the knockout stage is already set up, but D.R. Congo (entering in third place in Group K) are on the fence. You can track team-by-team advancement probabilities right here.
Get tickets to games like this here.
Pulse Picks
Wimbledon starts Monday with plenty of storylines on tap, but none bigger than the return of Serena Williams. Seeing the 44-year-old on our big board of players to watch is a real thrill. Get deeper analysis right in your inbox with our Grand Slam Briefing newsletter, too.
Mercedes dominated the start of the 2026 F1 season but lost the last race to Ferrari. Why has it suddenly lost form?
Flight of the Conchords is so back. Maybe? I didn’t know I needed this dose of early-2000s nostalgia (via NYT). — Torrey Hart
Whatever happened to college football players wearing giant shoulder pads?
Covering the World Cup has meant I have time for NOTHING ELSE in my life … unless that thing is catching up on “Widow’s Bay”!!! That’s how much I love this brilliant, scary, hilarious show. Think “Parks & Rec” if it was written by Stephen King. — Hannah Vanbiber
U.S. coach Mauricio Pochettino was defensive in his postgame news conference Thursday. Tom Bogert has a theory as to why.
“The Good Whale” is a podcast that activates a different part of your brain. It’s not homework, though. It’s weird how suspenseful it becomes. Listen and let me know. — Chris Sprow
Belated, but “Obsession” is the first movie of my adult life to make me uneasy around darkened corners. Give several awards to star Inde Navarrette and cinematographer Taylor Clemons. — Jason Kirk
Lionel Messi just set a record for career World Cup goals but already has France’s Kylian Mbappe breathing down his neck. Fun story here on that and other famous sports records that could soon be broken.
Scroll in certain corners of the internet, and you might encounter influencers describing weighted vests as “game changers” for weight loss and bone-density protection. Unfortunately, several experts I spoke to said adding a weighted vest to everyday activities may offer little to no health benefit. The best thing about it … may just be that it’s fun to wear. — Rose Maura Lorre
Most-clicked in the newsletter yesterday: Fever head coach Stephanie White reacting to “cheap shots” on Clark.
That’s all for now! Say hello at [email protected], and check out our other newsletters.
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
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