ESPN’s latest docuseries is a treasure of gold for basketball fans. From revisiting every breathtaking moment on and off the court around Caitlin Clark, Kiki Rice, and Kamilla Cardoso, to bringing explanations about various incidents, ‘Full Court Press’ is undeniably a great watch. It also jogs our memory back to when Iowa lost to Ohio State and a fan knocked down Iowa’s No. 22 last year. To this, the Hawkeyes sensation finally has an answer.

In the docuseries, Caitlin Clark reveals what the court-storming collision felt like. She said, “I was just trying to get out of there and didn’t see her and kind of collided pretty good. And then, we kind of just fell over.” The incident took place following the No.2 seed Iowa’s stunning 92-100 loss against the Buckeyes in January. It also ended the Hawkeyes’ 15-game winning streak.

However, since Clark was already a huge star by then, the court-storming incident on January 22, 2024, turned into a controversial topic. To this, she said, “Everybody has an opinion. People thought I ran into her on purpose. Why would I ever do that? I don’t know. But yeah, it definitely gets annoying. There’s going to be people that love you, there’s going to be people that hate you. There’s going to be a lot of people that want to see you fail.” But she understandably wasn’t too pleased after the incident.

In her post-game interview, she had said, “Kind of scary. Could have caused a pretty serious injury to me and knocked the wind out of me, but luckily, my teammates kind of picked me up and got me off the court.” Clark also mentioned that the Athletic Director of the Buckeyes reached out to her and apologized. However, being an athlete who has always understood the mechanics of popularity and the sport, she just said, “This is just what comes with the territory.”

Many people indeed accused her of exaggerating the ‘flop.’ But many also came to her rescue.

Lisa Bluder sides with Caitlin Clark

Talking about the loss and the court-storming, Iowa’s head coach Lisa Bluder said, “We lost the game. I think we’re all kind of shocked. Then, we’re leaving the court and people just start coming on to the court. We have never been a part of something like that.”

Following the incident, a lot of conspiracy theories also came up. Andraya Carter of ESPN said that the topic became polarizing because of who Caitlin Clark is. It seems like she did have some correct information. In fact. Pat McAfee, Aliyah Boston, and many others sided with Clark. Many of them also said that court-storming should be banned for security reasons.

However, later, Clark herself said that it only showed how passionate people are about the sport. Nevertheless, a lot of basketball followers also went against Clark, accusing her of intentionally colliding with the fan and making it look like she was hurt. Many other instances when Clark ‘flopped’ on the court when an opponent just whisked by her also caught people’s eye. While it has not happened yet, the WNBA is more ruthless. But the latest charter flight rules should help protect these women more.