"That’s not who I am": Chloe Bibby apologizes for endorsing "racially" controversial pic with Caitlin Clark & Sophie Cunningham against black officer

Indiana Fever forward Chloe Bibby has shared a public apology for a controversial social media post with Caitlin Clark and Sophie Cunningham. Bibby, who joined the Fever in July, has been sidelined with a knee injury since Aug. 16.

As such, she has been supporting the team from the bench, joining the Fever's many injured players. On Saturday, Bibby shared a picture dump on Instagram, sharing her time on the sidelines with Indiana’s “bench mob.” She captioned the post:

“Bench MOB things.”

The post originally contained an animated picture, depicting Caitlin Clark, Sophie Cunningham and Bibby facing off against a Black police officer. A similar incident had taken place during Game 3 of the first-round series featuring the Fever and the Atlanta Dream.

Clips from the game show Sophie Cunningham refusing to step behind the half-court line after being confronted by a police officer. A woman had approached Cunningham when the incident originally took place, but Bibby's picture depicted a Black male police officer.

The controversial picture in Bibby’s Instagram post was pointed out by fans on X, leading to much backlash for the Fever star. In light of the criticism, she has deleted the image from the original post and posted an apology on Saturday.

“Really sorry If I offended anyone with my post. That’s not who I am and I need to do a better job at understanding the racial undertones and issues within this country. No excuse, I need to educate myself in this area and I will,” she wrote.

As far as performance goes, Chloe Bibby has had a rough stretch this season. She started the season with the Golden State Valkyries, playing five games for the team before being waived.

Bibby joined the Fever in July but only made nine appearances before picking up a season-ending injury. She averaged 4.8 points and 1.8 rebounds per game.

Caitlin Clark's one-word reaction to Chloe Bibby's controversial Instagram post

While Chloe Bibby apologized for her Instagram post on Saturday, Caitlin Clark didn't seem worried about the alleged "racial undertones" of her pictures. Clark even wrote a comment under Bibby's post, leaving a one-word reaction.

"Bibssssss," she wrote.

In light of the recent backlash, Chloe Bibby has turned off the comments under her post. Bibby, Cunningham and Clark will be back on the sidelines cheering for Indiana as the team takes on the Las Vegas Aces in Game 4 of the semifinals on Sunday.

About the author

Sameer is an esports and gaming journalist at Sportskeeda who covers a diverse range of topics. He is currently pursuing a BSc degree from BITS, but his love for video games pushed him to pursue a gaming journalism career. He relies on diligent research and fact-checking to deliver top-notch content. He has previously worked in the hospitality sector with the Oberoi Group.

Sameer’s gaming journey began with Rockstar Games’ GTA franchise, specifically
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories. He strongly prefers multiplayer games, with FPS being his favorite genre, and has devoted 6K+ hours to CS:GO! However, he also dabbles in open-world, story-based games from time to time. Solo RPGs like Horizon Forbidden West hold a soft spot in his heart, and he would readily drop in it given a Jumanji-type scenario.

Sameer makes sure to follow Counter-Strike and Valorant esports tournaments, as he believes that watching a game being played at the highest level can be highly educational. He derives inspiration from Tarik's meteoric rise to become one of the biggest FPS streamers in the world following the release of Valorant.

Outside of work, you can find Sameer playing football or cheering for FC Barcelona. He also likes to read and write poetry.

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Edited by Sameer Khan