Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark said this week that media coverage of her often amounts to a distorted picture of who she is, capping a rocky stretch for the WNBA star that included a widely criticized newspaper column and a debunked report about her whereabouts during All-Star weekend.
In a sit-down interview with ESPN’s Malika Andrews that aired Friday night, Ms. Clark said, “I think there’s just a false characterization of who I am sometimes. I get people have a job to do, but at the same time, don’t make accusations about my character and who I am when you don’t know me.”
“Basketball is my profession, what I get to do,” Ms. Clark said. “And the reason I play it is when I step in between the lines, I love it.”
The remarks followed a bruising week for Ms. Clark’s coverage. USA Today sports columnist Nancy Armour drew national backlash after she invoked the 1955 lynching of Emmett Till in a column arguing that Ms. Clark’s reactions to physical play and a “white nationalist element” of her fan base put Black WNBA players at risk. Ms. Armour later said she regretted what she called an “inartful comparison,” though USA Today declined to discipline her, saying the piece was clearly labeled opinion.
USA Today came under fire again days later after falsely reporting that Ms. Clark had skipped the WNBA’s All-Star Orange Carpet event to get her hair done. The outlet corrected the story after backlash, acknowledging Ms. Clark had actually been hosting a charity event for the Caitlin Clark Foundation in her hometown of Des Moines, Iowa.
The controversies stack on top of a physical incident from June, when Phoenix Mercury forward Alyssa Thomas struck Ms. Clark in the throat during a game, drawing a one-game suspension from the league and weeks of racially charged debate among fans and pundits.
“It’s emotionally exhausting, it’s draining, it makes your shoulders tense,” Ms. Clark said of the ongoing scrutiny.
Speaking with Sirius XM on Friday, Ms. Clark said, “People forget like I have feelings … I feel things, I have emotions.” She added that social media commentary shouldn’t be mistaken for how people actually feel about her.
Ms. Clark also described a conversation with former President Barack Obama during All-Star weekend, saying, “He just complimented me for the way I handle everything.” She said Mr. Obama told her he didn’t become famous until his 40s, unlike Ms. Clark, who is navigating the spotlight in her mid-20s.
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