Caitlin Clark wasn’t just beating the Connecticut Sun on Saturday night; she fully embraced her showman side. The Indiana Fever star was drilling shots from deep, celebrating big buckets, flashing the ‘ice in my veins’ gesture, and even sending a few ‘bye-bye’ waves in Connecticut’s direction as her team cruised to an 85-75 victory. But none of it came without an officiating drama.

The point guard was assessed a technical foul with under three minutes left in the game. However, that was removed by the end of the game. But the context was so messed up that a vision correction center, LASIK, trolled the officiating crew with an interesting offer — again!

“Still offering free LASIK to @WNBA refs…” the center posted on X.

It is a running joke, or offer, from the center for every sport, be it the WNBA, NBA, or the NHL. But this time, the bizarre sequence of events was hard to ignore.

With 2:31 remaining on the clock and the Fever leading 74-71, they received a loose-ball foul. The Sun then got another inbound opportunity, and Leila Lacan tried to pass the ball to Saniya Rivers. But before the latter could catch the ball, Clark slapped the ball out of bounds. While she tried to scoop it up with her feet to give it back to the referee, she mistakenly kicked the ball to the scorer’s table.

It rebounded to halfcourt as Clark continued to chase it. As the point guard returned the ball, she received a whistle for delaying the game. It was then confirmed that it was a technical foul for kicking the ball. In no way did that make sense, though.

Clark was simply trying to get the ball to the referee — whether intentionally halting the game or not remains debatable. Yet, such a technical goes to the team and not the player. Sun guard Kennedy Burke then got to make a free throw to bring the game closer to 74-72.

It is worth noting that the Connecticut Sun were in more foul trouble than the Fever on Saturday night. The Sun had 22 fouls called against them while the visitors got called for only 16. The free-throw distribution was also imbalanced, with the hosts going to the charity line only nine times while the Fever got 19.

This wasn’t the first time that LASIK took Clark’s side.

Last time, they posted similar offers to WNBA refs after what happened to Clark in the Fever’s win against the Chicago Sky.

Then, Clark was assessed a technical foul when she yelled at a referee for not giving Azura Stevens a foul after she pushed the ball out of the point guard’s hands with her palms in her face.

While the game continued, Clark was still there yelling “That’s a foul!” at the referee, throwing her hands in the air animatedly.

Interestingly, Clark did get a foul against the Sun for yelling at their coach with only 22 seconds left in the game. While the team had practically won by that point and the point guard sat on the bench, the fans did take offense at the incorrectly called first foul that helped the opponents with one additional point.

Fans rally behind Caitlin Clark after controversial whistle

As the clip of this play went viral, fans flooded social media with many sharing their own perspective on the incident.

One fan wrote, “Refs are an absolute joke!” while another added, “Trash a– refs. Keep calling them out!”

It has been a growing narrative that the officials are not calling the fouls equally. And when it comes to Clark, she certainly never seems to get any help to get to the free-throw line. However, the one she received today by the end of the game was understandable to her. But she doesn’t have any regret about paying for that one.

“The technical, I didn’t need an explanation. I deserved it, but it was worth it,” Clark said after the game.

However, when it came to the sequence where she kicked the ball, the Fever star had a very different opinion.

“The delay of game made no sense. It felt like (referee) Tyler (Mirkovich) wanted to insert himself into the game, and that was ridiculous.”

So as the debate continued online, some fans took things a step further and jokingly suggested there might be other reasons behind the whistle.

“They don’t Lasik…they need their Prize Picks account looked at,” one fan wrote. Another added, “While they’re in for the procedure, have them investigated for FanDuel 👀.”

While those comments were clearly made in jest, they reflected the growing frustration many fans have felt with officiating decisions involving Caitlin Clark. But with the growing betting markets, it is hard to ignore the ugly thought that could be a reality.

Through just 12 games she has played, the 24-year-old has already accumulated four technical fouls after she got her third one in the last game, and that has placed her at the top for having the most techs so far. Ironically, a stage she is sharing with her archrival Angel Reese.

“Once again these refs are atrocious @WNBA,” another fan wrote.

Now, whether the officials got the call right or wrong will continue to be debated. But one thing is certain: her latest run-in with the refs has only added more fuel to the growing conversation around WNBA officiating.