It is well-known by now that Caitlin Clark is among the most fouled players in the WNBA today. She is currently the player who has drawn the third-most fouls in the 2026 season. But some of these have been quite nasty, and this includes the one Odyssey Sims committed on her as the Dallas Wings hosted the Indiana Fever on August 20. This prompted a firm response from Martina Navratilova, who feels that athletes should think before committing fouls like these.

“These athletes should be embarrassed,” she wrote on X. “This is not ok. Not to mention it’s dangerous and stupid.”

Clark pretty much remained in the spotlight throughout the match against the Wings. She first got into a confrontation with Paige Bueckers during the second quarter after the latter kept on yelling at referees over a foul.

Clark was later sent crashing to the floor by Odyssey Sims in the fourth quarter. She hit knee-first onto the court and was seen clutching her left leg before getting back on her feet. It proved to be a tight match overall, but the Wings eventually claimed a victory by 91-85. The loss leaves Indiana in fourth place, while the Wings currently sit eighth in the standings.

It proved to be a forgettable outing for Clark as the Wings restricted her to just 10 points. Though she did manage to get nine assists, it was a performance that she won’t want to look back on. Notably, Clark had scored 20 or more points in the Fever’s last six games, so it was indeed an underwhelming display on her end.

Navratilova’s concern wasn’t out of the blue, as being at the top of the game for over two decades, she has had a fair share of injuries to deal with throughout her career. She is also a big supporter of Clark and has lauded her on many instances prior to this.

Turns out that the Wings had come up with a strategy to limit Clark’s presence in the game. Their coach, Jose Fernandez, remarked that their game plan involved getting the ball out of Clark’s hands as quickly as possible.

“We wanted to get it out of her hands,” he said during the post-game press conference. “In any pick-and-roll situation in the middle of the floor, she’s so good. We wanted to get it out of her hands and make other people make shots.”

Regardless of the result, the story of the match was Sims’ dangerous foul on Clark that wasn’t received well by many, including Navratilova. This isn’t the first time that a tennis star has expressed support for Clark after she was fouled harshly on the court during a WNBA match.

Chris Evert had also expressed support for Caitlin Clark during the 2025 WNBA season

Navratilova’s great rival and close friend, Chris Evert, had also called out the WNBA players for their treatment of Clark last year. She expressed support for the Fever star who was poked in the eye and bumped to the ground during a game against the Connecticut Sun in June. Evert had raised questions over the WNBA players’ sportsmanship and was totally against the kind of fouls that were committed on Clark during the game.

“When will these ladies realize, accept, and appreciate @CaitlinClark22 is the best thing that ever happened to women’s basketball. This is a bad look for the sport, and what’s happened to sportsmanship?” Evert had posted on X.

Though Clark has received support from many since the game against Dallas, it is unlikely that the pattern of her getting constantly fouled by opposing players is going to change anytime soon.

She is arguably the most popular player in the WNBA’s history and is also one of its biggest stars currently. All this popularity comes with a price, as she has certainly become the player the opposition targets the most during a game.