WNBA rookie phenom Caitlin Clark has finished her first pro season and has already left an undeniable impact on the league. In just one year, Clark has been credited with drawing countless new followers to help the league break attendance and TV ratings records.
However, Clark does not approve of all the league's new followers.
During the Indiana Fever's exit interviews Friday after the team's season-ending playoff loss to the Connecticut Sun, Clark was asked about a statement released by the WNBA that condemned "racist, derogatory or threatening comments" directed at players, coaches and other figures in the league.
The statement came after Sun forward Alyssa Thomas accused Fever fans of racism.
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Clark denounced anyone following the WNBA who makes prejudicial comments toward players.
"Those aren't fans. Those are trolls," Clark said.
"Nobody in our league should be facing any sort of racism, disrespectful or hurtful comments and threats."
Connecticut Sun star Alyssa Thomas pointed directly at Indiana Fever fans after the team’s win in its playoff matchup, while her teammate, DiJonai Carrington, revealed on Instagram an email she had received filled with racial slurs.
"We've been professional throughout the whole entire thing, but I've never been called the things that I've been calling on social media, and there's no place for it," Thomas said. "Basketball is headed in a great direction, but no, we don't want fans that are going to degrade us and call us racial names. "
Race and racism have become frequent talking points relating to Clark's presence and the attention it has brought to women's basketball over the last few years.
Clark has been on the receiving end of racially charged comments from fans and prognosticators since her ascent to stardom.
ESPN's Pat McAfee referred to Clark as a "white b----" during an episode of his nationally televised show June 3 and later apologized. In May, "The View" host Sunny Hostins said during an episode of that show that Clark's popularity was due, in part, to "white privilege."
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Meanwhile, several opposing players, including longtime college and pro rival Angel Reese, have claimed to be on the receiving end of racist attacks from Clark's fans.
Reese has accused Clark's fans directly of being racist and attacking her online in an episode of her podcast Sept. 5.
"I think it's really just the fans, her fans, the Iowa fans, now the Indiana fans, that are really just, they ride for her, and I respect that, respectfully. But sometimes it's very disrespectful. I think there's a lot of racism when it comes to it," Reese said.
Reese has claimed she has been the victim of widespread online harassment, and it first ramped up when she and her college team, LSU, defeated Clark and Iowa in the 2023 NCAA women's basketball championship game. When LSU held a big lead in the final minutes of that game, Reese pointed to her ring finger in a now-infamous photo that angered some of Clark's fans. On her podcast, Reese said that moment "changed my life forever."
Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy reposted a video of the clip, with the caption "Classless piece of s---," on X. It's a post that had 79.5 million views on X at the time of publication. Portnoy then levied similar attacks at Reese throughout the 2024 tournament.
When Reese and LSU lost in that year's Final Four to Clark and Iowa, Reese cried at the press podium about the threats she had received over the last year. Reese's teammate, Hailey Van Lith, blamed racism for the treatment of Reese at that same press conference.
"A lot of the people that are making those comments are being racist towards my teammates," Van Lith said.
Sun player DiJonai Carrington, who poked Clark in the eye with her fingernail during Connecticut's Game 1 win over the Fever Sunday, previously criticized Clark for not doing more to call out racism among her own fans in an X post in June.
"Dawg. How one can not be bothered by their name being used to justify racism, bigotry, misogyny, xenophobia, homophobia & the intersectionalities of them all is nuts," Carrington wrote. "We all see the [s---]. We all have a platform. We all have a voice & they all hold weight. Silence is a luxury."
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