Caitlin Clark’s toxic cults are causing problems for the WNBA’s veteran fans.
If there’s one drawback to the WNBA’s surge of new fans, it’s the phenomena known as Caitlin Clark derangement syndrome. And it needs to end.
After a great debut as an ESPN television analyst at the NCAA Women’s Final Four in April, the 2023 WNBA Rookie of the Year witnessed her alma mater, South Carolina, win the national championship with an undefeated season. Dawn Staley, Boston’s college and national team head coach, praised her, demonstrating their popularity in the basketball community.
After watching the Gamecocks beat Iowa, the team that had ended her collegiate career a year before, Boston knew she’d soon be playing alongside Clark. Her WNBA team, the Indiana Fever, plans to take the 22-year-old with the first overall pick in the upcoming draft.
Let’s fast forward to now. Although Clark and Boston are teammates, the Fever struggled to start the season with five consecutive losses. However, a narrow win over the Los Angeles Sparks on Friday lifted their spirits.
But an even more crucial and terrible tale has evolved involving the team. Before the Fever’s second regular season game against the Connecticut Sun, ESPN’s Holly Rowe reported that Boston erased X from her phone and now feels comfortable on TikTok. And the reason is the upsetting, nasty criticism she and other WNBA players have gotten from Clark’s fervent fans.
Before we begin, it is crucial to clarify that this is not Clark’s fault, and she has done nothing to encourage the mistreatment of her teammates. There is plenty to rejoice about Clark’s rising success and entry into the world’s greatest women’s basketball league.
Her impact on the college game, which resulted in the highest TV ratings for the NCAA women’s Tournament, appears to be continuing in the WNBA. Clark’s preseason and regular-season debuts with the Fever received the highest attendance and TV viewing ratings in the league’s 28-year history.
Clark’s role in the W’s rising popularity has helped bring about the much-needed shift, despite the players’ long-standing demand for charter flights during collective bargaining talks. Clark’s shoe partnership with Nike may have resulted in A’Ja Wilson, the league’s best player, receiving her own trademark shoe.
So Clark has benefited the league and women’s basketball in general. Some of her ardent fans? Not very much.
The clash between Clark and Angel Reese in the 2023 NCAA final game caused some animosity. Clark admirers criticized Reese’s noisy demeanor while praising their own heroine’s cockiness as “competitiveness.”
And a subgroup of Clark’s ardent supporters has grown completely unpleasant.
Clark fans are blaming everyone but her for the Fever’s predicted early-season troubles. Disparaging comments regarding Boston’s weight, the rest of Clark’s Fever teammates, and requests for head coach Christie Sides’ firing are common.
Clark’s fans do not hold her accountable for her WNBA debut-record 10 turnovers, below-average defensive play, and excessive perimeter shooting, which she had at Iowa but should limit until she improves consistency at the WNBA level.
Clark’s fans ignore her explosive temper, which resulted in a rare technical foul last Monday night. They view her as an infallible celebrity rather than a maturing professional athlete.
Many Clark fans are unaware of the WNBA’s 25-year history of producing outstanding athletes, demonstrating a lack of knowledge. The arrogance of assuming that Clark is the sole cause for any interest in the WNBA or the high level of play it has long possessed, or that her fellow pros are envious of her, is something her fervent admirers must overcome. That will not be easy, however, with NBA superstars LeBron James and Charles Barkley just supporting the fans’ infantile behavior.
In a recent Mind The Game podcast with JJ Redick, James cited Clark as the driving force behind the WNBA’s future success. The Lakers forward compares Clark’s early-season problems to his son Bronny’s NBA selection process, alleging that both have received “a lot of vitriol and animosity.”
Barkley’s reaction was even worse, as the Inside the NBA star stated that her WNBA peers were being “petty” to Clark.
