​Caitlin Clark’s tantrums cover up scary truth about her production originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.The lasting image of the Indiana Fever’s loss to the Golden State Valkyries on Thursday will be Caitlin Clark’s tantrums that were broadcast to a national audience.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementBut Clark’s shouting match with an official — and her subsequent complaints to the media after the game — cover up a truth that the Fever refuses to confront.Remarkably, Clark got off with a warning — as opposed to her sixth technical foul of the season — after she berated a referee midway through the second quarter of the Fever’s 88-75 home loss to the Valkyries.Clark’s anger stemmed from an incident that took place on the previous possession, when she drove to the rim but took an inadvertent knee to the quadriceps from Golden State’s Kiah Stokes.MORE: Caitlin Clark loses her mind during Fever loss to Valkyries, but somehow doesn’t get a technical foul from patient refAdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementClark was livid after the game and continued to belittle the referees at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.”I get kneed right in the quad. That hurts. The ref can’t miss that,” Clark said. “And then I have to play with a contusion in my leg the rest of the game. It’s ridiculous.”The complaints from Clark thus ensure that officiating discourse will be the major takeaway from the Fever’s loss, as opposed to Clark shooting her team out of the game, a reality that many fans, and the Fever franchise, don’t enjoy facing.Clark, limited to 26 minutes as she ramps up amid her recent back problem, shot 1-of-8 from 3-point range on Thursday night. In the month of July, Clark — a three-time All-Star and one of the league’s most popular players — is a woeful 3-of-19 from behind the arc.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThat is a 15.8 percent from 3-point territory, which is not a great figure for someone largely regarded as an elite shooter.Clark’s 4-of-14 shooting line on Thursday marked the fourth time in 20 games this season when she has shot worse than 30 percent from the field. It’s the seventh time she has missed at least 10 field goals in a game this year.Further, Clark’s insistence that she doesn’t get favorable calls doesn’t hold much weight when the stats show that she is 10th in free throws attempted and 11th in free throws made this season, out of 222 players to play at least a minute in the 2026 season.The referees are not responsible for Clark having one of the highest usage rates in WNBA history and still shooting under 43 percent from the floor while leading the league in turnovers. The cost of those misses and turnovers is high. Indiana is 10-10 when Clark plays this season, and 4-1 when she does not.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementClark’s control of the narrative around her is masterful. It had better be, because the antics and the production do not often match