Marina Mabrey finally opened up about what drove her to shove Caitlin Clark during one of the 2025 season’s most heated moments.
The Connecticut Sun guard admitted she crossed the line during their game against the Indiana Fever, acknowledging that mounting losses and Clark’s dominant performance pushed her emotions past acceptable limits.
The incident stemmed from a sequence where Mabrey’s teammate Jacy Sheldon poked Clark in the eye.
What happened next became infamous across the league when the 29-year-old shoved the Fever guard to the ground in retaliation.
Speaking with Sue Bird, Mabrey revealed the emotions behind her overreaction.
“I know when I went too far with things, and it’s shameful. It’s like, ‘really, Marina, that was ridiculous’,” she said.
“So, for example, the Caitlin thing. When the play was over, and everyone was like, that was obvious that my emotions of us losing and losing and losing, and then she’s like low-key punking our team on top of it, like that was too far,” Mabrey said.
Clark had been dominating before her season ending injury. She entered the Connecticut matchup fresh off a 32-point performance in 31 minutes against the New York Liberty.
The Fever demolished the Sun by 17 points in what became one of the season’s ugliest affairs, with Mabrey’s shove drawing boos from fans and casting her as the villain.
Drawing the line between competitiveness and crossing boundaries
Mabrey now understands where boundaries need to exist, though her competitive fire continues burning.
Unrivaled has showcased that edge with a scuffle against Sug Sutton, where she pushed the opposing player after the whistle.
But Mabrey distinguished between incidents that energize teams and crowds versus actions that only bring shame and losses.
The Clark shove fell into the latter category. Connecticut gained nothing from the altercation beyond a blowout defeat and negative attention.
Mabrey’s frustration over their losing streak manifested in the worst possible way, overshadowing whatever competitive message she thought she was sending.
She’s working to channel her emotions better through an unusual method. Mabrey revealed she maintains a crash out jar to help train herself to react appropriately during tense moments.
The approach acknowledges her temperament while providing a framework to manage it moving forward and avoid a similar occurrence in the future.
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