Caitlin Clark has rarely spoken out this season when her colleagues in the WNBA have faced the wrath of hateful fans around the league — some of whom have been among Clark’s supporters themselves.
She’s spoken out against this behavior before, to her credit. But that was only after she had to be nudged a bit to be more specific in her condemnation of those fans.
She was asked about it again on Friday, following up on the WNBA’s too-little-too-late statement about fan behavior following an incident between Clark and an unruly fan in her final playoff game against the Connecticut Sun.
This time, Clark was swift in her rebuke. She denounced fans who behave this way and called them “trolls.”
https://twitter.com/romeovillekid/status/1839675819649577329?s=46&t=s5N-JgxcI5k9IbFhklucXA
“It’s definitely upsetting. Nobody in our league should be facing any sort of racism, hurtful, disrespectful, hateful comments and threats. Those aren’t fans. Those are trolls,” she said. “It’s a disservice to the people in our league. The organization. The WNBA.”
She continued to say there were “good fans” out there helping to grow the game and “uplift this league in a very positive light.”
“There are so many great players, there’s so many great teams, there are so many positive storylines that can be written and celebrated. And, for me, that’s why I became a fan of this league. These people were my idols. I grew up wanting to be like them. I think continuing to uplift and represent this league in a positive way is the best thing we can do,” Clark continued.
This is Clark’s strongest statement against the trolls that have plagued the WNBA all season long. Hopefully, this quells some of that behavior moving forward.