Caitlin Clark insists the raging debate surrounding her every step of the way in the WNBA hasn’t distracted her so far during her rookie season.
Clark has complained that players have escaped punishment for being overly physical when competing against her – a major topic of debate after Chennedy Carter checked her in a recent match against the Chicago Sky.
Clark, 22, was also controversially overlooked for the U.S. women’s basketball team for the Paris Olympics next month.
It has prompted controversial figures such as Clay Travis and Jason Whitlock to claim that Clark is being targeted because he is a white and heterosexual player. Clark herself has now insisted that she pays no attention to the social debates around her.
“It’s not something I have control over, so I don’t spend too much attention and time thinking about things like that,” she said. ‘To be honest, I don’t see much of it.
#IndianaFever‘s Caitlin Clark on Her Name Being Weaponized in Non-Sports Topics:
“It’s not something I have control over. … And honestly, I don’t see much of it.”
“People can talk about what they want to talk about. … I’m just here to play basketball.”
Q by @JimTrotter_NFL pic.twitter.com/VhGC7cIgLf
— James Boyd (@RomeovilleKid) June 13, 2024
Caitlin Clark insists the raging debate surrounding her every move in the WNBA is not a distraction
It is alleged that Clark was targeted by the WNBA because he was “straight and white.”
“Like I said, basketball is my job. Everything on the outside, I have no control over that, so I’m not going to spend time thinking about that.
“People can talk about what they want to talk about, have conversations about whatever it is. But for me, I’m just there to play basketball.
“I’m trying to help my team win. We won three games and I think we were in a position to win more. My focus is on helping us do that.”
Asked if her status makes it difficult to grow relationships in WNBA, she said, “I think the league understands: We’re excited about all the attention we’re getting, we appreciate it.
“The competition has been great for a long time. My focus is on my teammates, they have been great. I don’t think it has had an impact on building relationships within my team.
‘Obviously I don’t talk to people from other teams every day. “I have so much to focus on here, making sure my teammates trust me and do all that is my main focus – the same goes for my coaching staff and this organization.”
She was then asked if she is bothered by people “trying to weaponize your name,” to which she replied, “No, I don’t see it.” That’s not where my focus is.
“Again, my focus is here and on basketball. That’s where it needs to be, where it has been and I’m trying to get better every day.”
Clark says she ignores the stories around her because she has no control over them
Whitlock said this weekend that Clark had been banned from the Olympics because of the “black gay mafia.”
He wrote on X: “They/They hate Cait. End of story.’
He continued in a separate post: “Women’s basketball decision makers are not stupid. They have been bullied by the fanatics of the BLM-LGBTQIA+Silent P Alphabet Mafia.
‘The same cowardice that brought forth George Floyd statues, made Juneteenth a federal holiday, codified gay marriage, allows ‘kid-friendly’ drag shows, lets ‘Lia Thomas‘swimming… They keep making offers that we don’t refuse.’
Travis, the founder of Outkick, spoke about Clark’s incident with Carter last week, saying, “It’s not just race though, it’s sexuality too.
“Caitlin Clark is a white heterosexual woman in a black lesbian league and they are jealous of all the attention and the shoe deal she has gotten.
“And instead of acknowledging the truth, great athletes that people care about getting into your league really gives everyone more money.
“They don’t love her because she’s white, and they don’t love her because she’s straight. And as a result, even as she brings in new fans, the competition around her is undone.”