Caitlin Clark’s Teammate Starts Brawl In China By Throwing Ball At Opponent After Taking Hard Elbow
NaLyssa Smith played alongside Caitlin Clark as a member of the Indiana Fever for each of the last three WNBA seasons. The 24-year-old forward is currently hooping overseas during the offseason and found herself at the middle of a bench-clearing fight in China on Thursday.
Fortunately, all of the players involved with the dust-up were quickly separated by their teammates and officials before things got out of hand.
Smith, 24, was drafted No. 2 overall by the Fever out of Baylor in 2022. However, the W does not pay its players enough money to make ends meet for the entire year so a large number of athletes are forced to play in a different country from October through April and she is one of them.
NaLyssa Smith recently signed with the Zhejiang Golden Bulls of the Women’s Chinese Basketball Association (WCBA) after playing the last few years in Turkey. This is her first season in China and it got off to a hot start— specifically in terms of temper!
NaLyssa Smith popped off!
Zheijiang played Inner Mongolia on Thursday. Smith actually finished with a game-high 20 points and 10 rebounds during a seven-point win.
The preseason scrimmage was chippy from start to finish! Seven different technical fouls were called during the 40-minute contest. Tempers flared on a few different occasions.
Smith picked up one of the technicals late in the second half after she caught an elbow from a Chinese defender while fighting for a rebound in the low post. The Fever forward reacted to the overly-aggressive positioning by throwing the ball back at the opponent.
Even though the fight was fairly docile, multiple technical fouls were assessed to players on both teams. NaLyssa Smith picked one up for throwing the ball.
It will be interesting to see what Smith decides to do after the Chinese season ends. She previously wiped all affiliation to the Indiana Fever off of social media after her girlfriend demanded a trade but the hire of Stephanie White as head coach likely changes the entire situation. In the meantime, Caitlin Clark’s teammate will try to stay out of any additional trouble while playing internationally!
