In her rookie season, Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark dealt with numerous off-court narratives regarding hate and race. Now fans have jabbed back at an analyst who made shocking comments about the rookie.
During her end-of-season press conference, Clark was asked about the hate other players around the league have to deal with. Clark stood up for her fellow WNBA counterparts, saying that nobody should have to endure such hate.
Longtime analyst Jemele Hill re-posted a clip of Clark’s press conference and shared her thoughts. When a fan tweeted on X that Clark receives as much hate as other players, Hill tweeted in reply that she doesn’t deal with things that African American players go through.
This remark quickly gained steam on X, as WNBA fans were quick to clap back at Hill.
“Bodyguard 24/7. Harassed by a famous football player online and in person. Fake nudes made by AI leaked. Be called a man. Be threaten with all a woman can be threatened with. SHAMELESS behavior towards a 22 y/o of your part. Why do you think she’s not in this app? Disingenuous,” a fan tweeted.
Fans also pointed out that Clark has gotten off social media for mental health reasons.
“Caitlin said she had to get off X for her mental health at the beginning of the season. She only got back in for a few posts during the Olympic break. How is that any different than having to delete your social media?” One fan asked in their tweet.
“CC purposely doesn’t look at social media for a reason,” one fan tweeted in Clark’s defense.
“Jemele Caitlin DID delete her social media and to this day does not use Twitter. you are so fucking shameless,” another fan tweeted, expressing their disgust.
Jemel Hill spoke out against Caitlin Clark being compared to all-time women’s greats
Earlier this week, Caitlin Clark saw her historic rookie season in the WNBA come to an end. Her early success was recently compared to some other icons in women’s sports, which resulted in some pushback from Jemel Hill.
During an episode of ESPN’s “First Take,” Clark’s numbers were put in the same conversation with the likes of Serena Williams, Simone Biles and Katie Ledecky. Hill ended up re-posting the graphic and used a GIF to show her displeasure.
This is far from the only time Hill has spoken out against the hype behind Clark. In an interview with the LA Times back in May, the former ESPN analyst cited race and gender as factors in her popularity.
“We would all be very naive if we didn’t say race and her sexuality played a role in her popularity,” Hill said. “While so many people are happy for Caitlin’s success — including the players; this has had such an enormous impact on the game — there is a part of it that is a little problematic because of what it says about the worth and the marketability of the players who are already there.”
En route to becoming a unanimous Rookie of the Year, Clark shattered numerous WNBA records. She now holds the single-game and single-season record for assists, along with the rookie scoring record. Clark also became the first rookie to record a triple-double, doing so on two occasions.
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