Like many athletes who make the jump from college to the pros, Caitlin Clark has gone through growing pains during her rookie campaign in the WNBA. After winning a ton of games and posting gigantic numbers during her time at the University of Iowa, Clark is still trying to find her way at the start of her career in the W with the Indiana Fever. And while she’s been at the center of attention for some time due to her collegiate success, Clark has seen that amplified as a professional, most notably after a hard foul by Chicago Sky guard Chennedy Carter that eventually got upgraded by the league to a flagrant 1 and led to some pretty wide-reaching discourse about the foul itself, Clark, and the state of WNBA coverage.
Ahead of the Fever’s game against the Washington Mystics on Friday night, Clark got asked by Christine Brennan of the Washington Post about the “controversy and conversation” around that game against the Sky, and what she felt about the discourse surrounding that moment. And while she did discuss the incident with Carter, Clark took a step back and looked at the big picture, as well.
I asked Caitlin Clark how much attention she has paid to the controversy and conversation about what happened in the Chicago Sky game, and what her thoughts were on it. pic.twitter.com/TEY4yDLNrc
— Christine Brennan (@cbrennansports) June 7, 2024
“I’m not on social media, so I don’t see a lot of it, but you would be surprised,” Clark said. “Like, I still have my TV on in my house, and I’m watching sports, like, you’re still aware of it and you still see it. Other than that, my focus is basketball. Sometimes it stinks how much the conversation is outside of basketball and not the product on the floor, and the amazing players that are on the floor, and how good they are for their teams, and how great this season has been for women’s basketball, going from college basketball to, now, the WNBA. Some of the crowds are unprecedented and had never been seen before. The viewership’s amazing.
“But, yeah, I try to block it out,” Clark continued. “I don’t have social media on my phone, I don’t go on it, I don’t see a lot of it. But I don’t really think it’s that different from when I was in college. Everybody’s gonna have their opinion, everybody’s entitled to their own opinion. That’s just what it is, and I think you just gotta be focused on what’s in your locker room, what’s in your organization, how your teammates feel, how your coaches feel. And for me, that’s my focus, but also, I have a job to do at the same time. So, that’s where my focus remains.”
Clark is averaging 15.6 points, 6.4 assists, 5.1 rebounds, and 1.3 steals a night for the Fever. While she has struggled to consistently find her shot and with turnovers, she leads the team in minutes, points, assists, and steals per game.
