The controversy began after the July 19 All-Star Game in Indianapolis. Players wore “Pay Us What You Owe Us” shirts in a show of unity during collective bargaining talks with the league. During the postgame press conference, Plum joked that “zero members of Team Clark were very present” for the pregame meeting about the shirts.

Clark responded by commenting "Thank u for the Nike ad," seemingly making light of the fact that Plum, who signed a multi-year sponsorship deal with Under Armour in November of 2022, happened to be standing in front of a giant Nike logo in her photos. Clark is one of Nike's biggest stars.

Los Angeles Sparks star Kelsey Plum said she was joking when she took a verbal shot at Caitlin Clark and her team at the All-Star Game last month, comments that drew significant pushback. “I made a really bad joke,” Plum said on Sue Bird's “Bird's Eye View” podcast that dropped Friday.