Caitlin Clark had another stinker of a shooting game, and it cost the Indiana Fever dearly in 90-88 loss to the Golden State Valkyries on Thursday night. No matter how much fans sugarcoat key losses and poor performances directly attributed to the WNBA’s cash cow, Clark’s overall approach is questionable these days.
Clark went 3 of 12 from the field. Then she had another outburst on the court, which many fans felt she should have gotten a technical foul call.
These series of events come on the heels of former ESPN reporter Cari Champion excoriating the league for giving Clark preferential treatment on and off the floor and also a special ref’s whistle that has elevated her stats to 22.5 points per game, third in the league.
While the media and fans celebrate her record-breaking individual stats, anyone watching the game knows that the Fever have a chemistry problem and are underachieving considering the wealth of All-League talent they possess.
After a huge loss against another title contender, Clark’s tantrums continued as she refused to speak with reporters after Thursday’s loss.
Clark’s actions proved Champion correct in this instance. Her refusal to speak with the media gave off a sense of entitlement.
“But the way that you behave, this entitlement, the way you are talking to your coaches… you enjoy that. So if that’s what you enjoy, if you want to be the villain, if you want to be the tough person … then let it be,” Champion said. “Because we’re coming at you the same way we could come at anyone else. And her fans need to recognize that. Like, she chooses that behavior.”
WNBA Fans Come For Caitlin Clark
Clark received plenty of backlash for her behavior from fans. When the media is loving her she’s eager to speak, but now that some have turned against her as far as the NCAA’s all-time leading scorer being beyond criticism, Clark chose to not face the music.
Love her or hate her, that’s a character trait coming in hot.
“This is pretty ridiculous,” a fan wrote. “I don’t understand the point of allowing tier 1 media members to request players after the game if teams are just going to say no when it’s inconvenient for said players.”
“She’s ducking smoke,” a second fan declared.
“Clark should be receiving a fine,” another fan said.
“That’s not cool,” a WNBA fan commented. “She needs to answer questions about how her head was not in the game and how she made some pretty serious mistakes that should not happen at her level.”
Caitlin Clark’s Referee Outburst & Refusal To Speak To Media Brings Validity To Cari Champions Statement
Fans agreed with Champion even more after Clark basically proved everything Champion was saying about the way she conducts herself with referees, other players and now the media.
“She really does,” one fan said.” All she does is complain to the refs about everything and on the bench crying and arguing with her coaches, flops more than LeBron, it doesn’t take a brain science to figure out she comes off as entitled.”
“She’s not wrong but those that saw her in college understood 100% ,why AR did the CC”s John Cena back at her after the LSU win. Seems the masses are catching up,” another user said on X.
While Champion said CC’s actions make her unlikeable, WNBA fans who worship the ground Clark walks on weren’t having it. They justified her behavior by comparing Clark to NBA greats such as Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant and attempting to draw a similarity between them.
Caitlin Clark Fans Come To Her Defense Against Cari Champion
“She’s the best player in the league. I’ll bet she has no problem with MJ acting entitled back in the day. We all know why she has this opinion…,” said one fan suggesting that Champion is racist against Clark who’s white.
“Who cares people didn’t like how Jordan and Kobe acted on the court either they’re winners Every comment agreeing is from an African American and yet they say white people are the racist ones,” another frustrated CC fan quipped.
“Cari is a nobody and is jealous. She should thank her for putting WNBA in the sports conversation. Petty just like the golfers were with Tiger the first few years. Know one knows why a great athlete captures the American psyche. When it happens it’s special and ALL boats are lifted to new and extraordinary heights. Tiger, Magic, Bird, McEnroe, Catlin, MJ, Shaq are a few examples . Embrace people it does not happen often and stop being a hater as it will certainly impede your career,” one netizen insisted.
Despite the turmoil, the Fever are 4-3 and just a half game beyond Angel Reese’s Atlanta Dream in the Eastern Conference standings. They should have a more manageable game against the expansion Portland Fire, who are off to a strong 5-3 start on Saturday. Expect Clark to put up huge scoring numbers. Expect the conversation revolving around the WNBA’s most polarizing figure. If anything, she’s really leaning into it and she doesn’t mind playing the villain role.
