Caitlin Clark’s Indiana Fever teammate NaLyssa Smith starred in a bench-clearing skirmish during a game in China on Thursday.
Smith, drafted by the Fever in 2022, partakes in a common practice among WNBA players who head overseas during the offseason to fill financial gaps left by their salaries in the W.
Smith recently signed with the Zhejiang Golden Bulls of the Women’s Chinese Basketball Association (WCBA) after playing the last few years in Turkey and got off to a hot start in her first season in East Asia.
Zheijiang played against Inner Mongolia in a preseason scrimmage when Smith got elbowed by her defender while fighting for a rebound. In response, the Baylor product aggressively threw the ball to her opponent’s back.
Her reaction did not go well with the Inner Mongolia bench, who all rushed to the court to defend their teammate. Tempers appeared to escalate before other players stepped in to diffuse the situation.
Nonetheless, Smith recorded a game-high 20 points and 10 rebounds to help Zheijiang secure a seven-point win.
In her third year with the Fever, Smith averaged 10.6 points, 5.3 rebounds, an assist, and a block per game while starting in 37 games for Indiana.
She also appeared in two games, for a total of 13 minutes, as the Fever got swept by Connecticut in the opening round of the WNBA playoffs.
Smith recently wiped all affiliation with the WNBA side off her social media after her girlfriend demanded a trade, citing her dissatisfaction with former coach Christie Sides’ minute distribution.
Whether or not she will return to Indy with Stephanie White running the board remains a question.
