After her 20 years of raising hell on the hardwood, Diana Taurasi has finally hung up her jersey. She didn’t just give us basketball, she gave us drama, fire, and a whole lot of technical fouls. DT led the league in techs like it was a badge of honor. She was blunt, bold, and never once held back. But before you start thinking we’ve lost that edge, there’s already someone else carrying the torch and she’s doing it with the same fire. Caitlin Clark.

In just her rookie season in 2024, Clark made a name for herself with technical fouls. Six of them to be exact. One more and she would’ve been benched for a game. She’s earned a reputation real fast for talking back to refs when she feels like something’s off. Fans either love her for it or… well, let’s just say they talk.

But this year, she’s got a different game plan. Or at least, she had one. “I came close to getting suspended for our last game, and obviously every front office tries to get your technicals taken away, and they wouldn’t take any of mine away,” Clark shared during the women’s national championship game on the Bird and Taurasi show.

She even listed out the offenses—two techs for slapping the stanchion, one for accidentally hitting someone in the eye. “Half of them weren’t even me talking to refs,” she said. “Which was dumb.” Then, Taurasi decided to play oddsmaker and set the over/under on Clark’s techs this season at 4.5. Clark, though, had other ideas. “I already told Steph (coach Stephani White) two max,” she said, flashing a peace sign.

via Imago

Well… about that.

In Saturday’s preseason game against the Atlanta Dream, the Fever grabbed the W, 81-76. Clark dropped 13 points, but she also picked her first tech of the season. It happened in the second quarter after a bounce pass got intercepted and led to a layup. Clark, clearly frustrated, chucked the ball at the stanchion and the ref didn’t hesitate. Tech number one.

A fan-shot video shows her walking away, heated, after exchanging words with the ref, while teammate Sophie Cunningham tried to cool her down. Well, her fabs are not ready either to ‘cool down.’ Social media lit up with frustration over the call. The Fever community is out here defending their star, calling out the refs for targeting Clark.

The moment that whistle blew, social media exploded with outrage, and the debate about WNBA officiating was back in full force. One fan flat out said, “Referee is fed with Caitlin Clark, well maybe if the referees were better the game would be. They believed it was the officiating the ruined the last year.“GET BETTER REFEREES!,” the fans added. 

That wasn’t just a lone internet rant. Even Clark’s own dad had voiced some frustration about this way back in her rookie season. When asked what stood out to him about the WNBA, he didn’t sugarcoat it. “Well, I think there’s a lot of room for improvement there, particularly in the officiating,” he said. Sure, he tried to be nice about it, saying things looked better in the first preseason game. But we’re pretty sure now he’s no longer buying that optimism.

Then there’s the fan who just let it rip, saying, “That ref is not going to have a pleasant night!” But even before the tech, Clark was walking a tightrope. In the Fever’s preseason matchup against the Mystics, she wasn’t even playing, just over four minutes before halftime, CC (supporting from the bench) jumped up cheering after a full-court press led to a turnover. She was so hyped, she ended up halfway onto the court, clapping and celebrating.

Teammate Aliyah Boston had to gently pull her back before the ref decided to hand her another tech—for being a little too excited from the bench. Players on the bench aren’t supposed to step onto the court unless they have official permission. Even a practice video gained a lot of attention recently. In a late-game out-of-bounds play drawn up for Clark, she missed the shot at the buzzer.

Though she cracked a smile, her competitive fire flared as she let out a yell and slapped the sideline padding—a move that echoed a similar moment last season, when the same gesture earned her a technical foul. That made fans wonder if she actually could pick just two techs the whole season. While they love her the fire she brings, her fandom is equally defence when they think that call is not fair.

This time, another fan just summed up the whole vibe in two words, “Bull cr-p.”  Well, that’s been the sentiment across Clark fans. But here’s the silver lining. Preseason techs don’t count toward the regular season limit. Clark’s safe for now. But if we’re being real, that “two max” goal she promised Coach Stephanie White? We might want to go ahead and toss that out the window.