"Should be investigated for fraud": Fans tear into Caitlin Clark's teammate Erica Wheeler for shocking decision to pass up open layup

Caitlin Clark's teammate and Indiana Fever guard Erica Wheeler made a baffling decision during Tuesday's game against the LA Sparks. With just two minutes remaining in the game and the Fever trailing by eight points, Aliyah Boston passed the ball to Erica Wheeler, who had a clear path to an uncontested layup.

As Wheeler raced toward the basket, she slightly mishandled the ball just two feet away from the rim. Rather than recovering and attempting two easy points, the 33-year-old guard dribbled the ball away from the basket toward the corner before passing it to a teammate.

At a critical juncture when the Fever desperately needed points to cut down the deficit, Wheeler's decision not to finish the play with an easy layup was surprising.

Fans tore into Erica Wheeler for messing up the play in bizarre fashion, with one social media user even claiming that the Indiana Fever guard committed fraud and should be investigated.

"ERICA WHEELER has should be INVESTIGATED FOR FRAUD," wrote a fan.

Another fan commented that what Wheeler did is usually done by players whose teams are tanking.

"That's what a tanking NBA team looks like (hello Pistons)," said a fan.

One of the fans slammed Wheeler and said she doesn't deserve to play on the team.

"There’s no one in the world that can convince me that Wheeler deserves playing time. She won’t pass CC the ball. She air balls lay ups. This play^.. just makes no sense. Put an extra big in there instead. There’s got to be a better option," wrote another fan.

One fan blamed Erica Wheeler for messing up the play and taking the momentum away from the Indiana Fever.

"She’s soooo BAD! She single-handily killed their momentum. It was gave (game) over after that," said another fan.

One fan felt bad for Caitlin Clark for playing with "useless players" like Wheeler.

"feel sorry for Caitlin having to play with these useless players," commented another fan.

Another fan called Wheeler "terrible" and said that she is yet to see something good from the 33-year-old veteran.

"She is terrible lol like ive seen nothing good from her yet," said another fan.

Indiana Fever slipped to 1-7 after 8 games

The Indiana Fever lost in front of their home crowd against the Los Angeles Sparks. Christie Sides' group dropped to 1-7 after their latest loss. Despite Caitlin Clark's outstanding performance, it was insufficient. Clark had a career-high 30 points.

For the LA Sparks, Kia Nurse led the scoring with 22 points, while Aari McDonald provided a spark off the bench with 21 points. Dearica Hamby continued her good scoring run by adding 17 points.