Colin Cowherd compares Caitlin Clark to 80's Michael Jordan: 'The officials are letting stuff go that feels inappropriate'

Indiana Fever star guard Caitlin Clark played 28 minutes in Tuesday’s 85-77 victory over the Sun, totaling 14 points, eight rebounds and seven assists. Her shooting struggles continued as she went just 4-for-14 from the field, including 1-of-7 from three-point range.

Clark however left the game in the final minute and is out for Wednesday’s game against the New York Liberty. FOX personality Colin Cowherd heavily criticized the WNBA’s officials on Wednesday, claiming that their officiating is to blame for Clark’s injuries this season. He even compared her whistle to the whistle a young Michael Jordan received when he first entered the league.

“Last night I was watching Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever,” Cowherd said. “So I’ve compared her to Michael Jordan, not stylistically obviously, but in merchandise sales and kind of a dynastic TV rating changer. In year one, you were like ‘wow, nobody plays like that.’ And then in year two, Michael Jordan got hurt and then in year two for Caitlin Clark, she’s getting banged up and hurt. Why did MJ always get hurt early? Because they were tackling him. Nobody knew how to stop him. And the WNBA officiating has just changed. It was always a physical league but now it’s insane.”

Colin Cowherd: "It has an MJ feel. Rocket to the moon. Year 2, lot of physicality allowed, injuries, nobody quite knows how to defend her… Pistons/Celtics are picking on MJ, who's dropping 50. And Caitlin Clark now is alienating some of the players."pic.twitter.com/aPLuHSkXuw

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“So last night she gets hurt again and she’s in a shooting slump. And I think a lot of it is she’s banged up in year two like Michael Jordan. And Michael was fighting to come back and she’s fighting to come back and she re-injured a groin. She’s still scoring and is still a team leader in assists but she’s just been banged up and by the way, her brother went on social media last night. No lies told Colin Clark, ‘make no mistake, this is on the reffing.’

Cowherd claims that the players don’t quite know how to defend her

Clark was bringing the ball up the court with about 40 seconds left to play when she kicked it inside to Kelsey Mitchell for a layup. As Connecticut called timeout, the former Iowa star was visibly in pain and reaching for her left leg as she headed toward the basket.

Once she got to the bench, Clark put a towel over her head and was visibly emotional off the bench. Replays showed she pulled up after the backdoor pass and reached for the inside of her right leg as the whistle blew.

“Even Stephanie White, Fever head coach has noticed it. The officials are just letting a lot of stuff go that almost feels inappropriate. And so she’s probably hurt again and again, it has an MJ feel. Rocket to the moon. Year 2, lot of physicality allowed, injuries, nobody quite knows how to defend her… Pistons/Celtics are picking on MJ, who’s dropping 50. And Caitlin Clark now is alienating some of the players.”

White confirmed Clark felt something in her groin, which she previously injured this year, and she’d undergo further evaluation. Indiana announced the former top pick will not play in Wednesday’s game at New York, and ESPN’s Alexa Philippou said Clark’s status for this weekend’s All-Star Game is still to be determined.

“Hollywood knows how to handle stars. There’s a playbook. But I noticed this when Tiger Woods came to the PGA Tour. A little turbulence because you don’t quite have a playbook on how to do it. And I think right now they need better officials.”

On3’s Nick Schultz contributed to this article.