Basketball analyst Elle Duncan believes that WNBA star Caitlin Clark shouldn’t be held responsible for what her fans say on social media. While the presumptive Rookie of the Year keeps a low profile off the court, and doesn’t social media often, a small section of her fanbase has taken their fandom too far.

Angel Reese, another WNBA star, said on the first episode of her new podcast that she believes some of Clark’s fans have taken things too far. Despite the Chicago Sky forward saying that she and Clark have never had beef off the court, she’s been the subject of racist attacks from a subsection of Clark’s fans.

This has led to some suggesting that Clark should release a statement, or take to social media to condemn those fans. Elle Duncan feels as though it isn’t Caitlin Clark’s responsibility to check her fans. She spoke on the Elle Duncan Show this week:

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“I think that it is not her responsibility. Some people say things like, well, I wish that she would do more to calm a small group of her fans from being so nasty. I don’t think that’s her responsibility. It’s not her responsibility to carry.
“She already carries the weight of the league, and her team, and her endorsements, and her family, and all of this pressure already. It’s not on her to be burdened by social media clowns.”
Throughout her rookie year, Clark has continued to make history with her play, while helping fuel record viewership numbers for the WNBA.

In addition to setting several franchise records, Clark has also cemented her place in WNBA history with record-breaking performances in the 2024 season.

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“I think there’s a lot of racism” – Angel Reese opens up on harassment from a small section of Caitlin Clark’s fandom
During the first episode of her podcast this week, Angel Reese spoke about a wide range of topics, from Caitlin Clark and her time at LSU, to her love life. She gave the fans a behind-the-scenes look at her life.

When it came to Clark, Reese explained that the two had competed against each other going all the way back to AAU (travel basketball) tournaments in high school. Of course, the two had a famous competitive rivalry in college, meeting in back-to-back NCAA March Madness tournaments in their final two years.

As Reese explained, Caitlin Clark is an amazing player. However she’s all too familiar with the fact that a small section of Clark’s fanbase has taken things too far. According to Reese, in addition to receiving death threats, she’s also had haters show up at her house unannounced.

On other occasions, Reese explained that she’s had fake AI-generated explicit photos sent to her family members. While Reese believes the small subsection of fans have taken things too far, she doesn’t believe that the Indiana Fever star would approve of this.

“I think it’s really just the fans, her fans, the Iowa fans, now the Indiana fans, that are, like, they ride for her and I respect that, respectfully, but sometimes it’s very disrespectful. I think there’s a lot of racism when it comes to it and I don’t believe she stands on any of that.”
While the two have been pitted against each other in the media repeatedly, they both have had nothing but good things to say about one another off the court. Their rivalry and race for the Rookie of the Year award has been one of the biggest selling points of the current WNBA season.