Until last week, people were up in arms against Caitlin Clark receiving a superstar treatment in the league. Now, it seems she has become a soft target for her rivals on the court. In the last Indiana Fever vs Chicago Sky game, she was even hip-checked to the ground by Chennedy Carter after their little scuffle. In the wake of rising brutal fouls, against this season’s number one draft pick, Austin Rivers took to his social media to call out other athletes.
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The former NBA star believes that the players’ reaction towards Clark is a result of jealousy. He stated that since Clark is the one with the most attention, others are using the on-court tussles and media interactions to let out their frustrations.
According to Rivers, Clark has finally brought “the world in and is now giving y’all that proper attention and respect.” He put his opinion into perspective with a pop culture analogy. Rivers said,
“If you girls were Destiny’s Child, she would be Beyoncé. If all the girls in collegiate sports were a band and they were NSYNC, she would be Justin Timberlake. She is the main attraction.” The 31-year-old also slammed the naysayers for peddling the narrative that Clark gets the media attention because she is white,
“It’s not because she’s white, it’s not because she’s straight, good god, no one cares… And it’s not because she’s pretty.”
We gotta stop the cap and all the hate some of y’all Woman are putting on Caitlin. Lbh on why people have such high interest all of sudden in woman’s basketball. The Caitlin Clark effect!!! It’s not only because of her, but it is mainly because of her! Cut the jealousy please…. pic.twitter.com/qyCcpdKIxD
— Austin Rivers (@AustinRivers25) June 2, 2024
Clark is a cut above the rest because she’s an incredible hooper who can bring out the same flare as Stephen Curry into the WNBA with a half-court shot and has a unique game style.
Further, a little skirmish on the court and confrontations with the opposing team is not something new in the sport. Hence, Becky Hammon believes that the media is doing too much to paint her as a victim.
Becky Hammon trashes the media’s agenda for Caitlin Clark
Every coin has two sides and the Caitlin Clark saga is no different. While a large section of people, in the media or regular viewers of the sport, believe that Clark is being mistreated, a veteran like Hammon thinks that the opposition is just doing its job against her. The 47-year-old lashed out at the media during the Las Vegas Aces practice session for trying to paint Clark as a victim.
Claiming that everyone loves the Fever rookie, the LV Aces HC said,
“We’re just doing our job. We’re gonna show up, whoever is on the other team is on the other team, we don’t really care… I think this narrative of everybody hating on Caitlin Clark and even the black and white thing, knock it off.”
As a professional in the league, Hammon thinks Clark is being treated like any other talented player in the opposition. So, is there really an issue or media has made it into one?
