Why We're Worried About Caitlin Clark

Caitlin Clark has changed the public's perception of women's basketball. Since getting selected as the No. 1 overall 2024 draft pick by the Indiana Fever, she has been likened to NBA Hall of Famer Larry Bird, who, much like Clark, brought a lot of attention to the professional league in his rookie year. With the odds seemingly in her favor, many hope Clark's legacy in the WNBA will be as long-standing as Bird's.

Given her record-breaking strides at the collegiate level, it is no surprise that even in the pro league, Clark continues to dominate. Despite the Fever's uneven performance in the season, Clark's rookie season was characterized by impressive performances on the court. By June 2024, she had made history as the first WNBA player to record 300 career points, 100 rebounds, and 100 assists in her 19th game. Before Clark, no other player had reached this feat earlier than their 22nd game.

But while Caitlin Clark has experienced enviable success in her basketball career, the former Iowa Hawkeyes star has been just as controversial in some conversations in the sports world, leaving her fans worried. From her disappointing salary to her struggles with fame, here are all the reasons people are worried about Caitlin Clark.

On June 11, 2024, USA Basketball announced the roster for the women's national basketball team expected to represent the country at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. With the roster including a mix of veterans and first-times, Caitlin Clark was left out, to the surprise of many fans. "Leaving Caitlin Clark off the women's Olympic team is the dumbest s*** I've ever heard," a fan — who happens to be Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy — wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.

But while the snub left fans upset, Clark took it in good faith, revealing in an interview that she was not disappointed. "I think it just gives you something to work for," she explained. "It's a dream. Hopefully, one day, I can be there. I think it's just a little more motivation."

Clark had previously hinted interest in playing at the Olympics after receiving an invitation to the USA basketball training camp. In a March 2024 press conference, the point guard, the only college player to receive the invite, revealed that she would attend the camp if the Iowa Hawkeyes failed to make it to the Final Four Championship. "USA Basketball, that's your dream. You always want to grow up and be on the Olympic team," she shared during a press conference at the time. "People that are on that roster are people that I idolize and have idolized growing up."

With her impressive college career, Caitlin Clark's entry into the WNBA meant people naturally had high expectations of her. But as she would soon discover, playing in the WNBA is no walk in the park. In her first four games in the league, Clark and her team, the Indiana Fever recorded all losses. However, according to sports analysts, Clark's initial struggles in the league were understandable. "The Fever's tough schedule to start the season meant Clark would immediately be facing not just playoff-level opponents but the top tier of those teams," ESPN journalist Michael Voepel explained in his review of Clark's rocky start in the WNBA.

During her first year in the WNBA, Clark also experienced a lot of physical play from opponents in the league. Notably, the former Iowa Hawkeyes star made headlines in June 2024 after getting shoulder-shot by Chennedy Carter during the Fever's game against the Chicago Sky. Carter would later admit that the foul was unnecessary. "Chennedy understands that there are better ways to handle situations on the court, and she will learn from this, as we all will," Chicago Sky coach Teresa Weatherspoon said in an official statement responding to the incident.

However, despite the rough start to her WNBA career, Clark has held her head up high, accepting the challenges and pushing through with a positive mindset. "I'm just really grateful to be in this position and whatever comes with that," she told The Washington Post.

Despite being widely regarded as one of the new faces of the WNBA, Caitlin Clark has faced a lot of pushback from senior players in the league. In April 2023, Diana Taurasi, a five-time Olympic gold medalist and three-time WNBA champion made headlines after saying Clark would struggle to play against senior players in the league. "Reality is coming," Taurasi explained during an appearance on SportsCenter with Scott Van Pelt. "You look superhuman playing against 18-year-olds, but you're going to come with some grown women who've been playing professional basketball for a long time."

Breanna Stewart, the first overall pick of the 2016 draft class, also took a swipe at Clark, questioning her status as one of the greats in women's college basketball history. Despite her remarkable college career, Stewart argued that the former Iowa Hawkeyes star did not fit in the "greatest" category because she never won an NCAA championship. "Yeah, she does [need a title]. I think so ... Anybody knows your goal when you play college basketball is to win a national championship. So you need one," Stewart shared in an interview with SiriusXM.

Similarly, A'ja Wilson raised eyebrows after alluding that Clark's popularity was race-motivated. According to Wilson, Clark's meteoric rise is proof of the disparity in the public's perception of white and black players. "They don't see it as marketable, so ... it doesn't matter what we all do as Black women, we're still going to be swept underneath the rug," Wilson lamented to AP.

During an April 2023 match between the Iowa Hawkeyes and the LSU Tigers, Angel Reese infamously taunted Caitlin Clark with the John Cena "You Can't See Me" hand gesture (which Clark had flashed at her previously). Reese also pointed to her ring finger, suggesting that the Hawkeyes stood no chance at winning the NCAA championship. While this stirred up rumors of a feud between the two players, Reese refuted that suggestion. "I love Caitlin ... She is a great player, and a great shooter, and a great person, and a great teammate," Reese gushed in an interview. "[The world] always put[s] a good girl and a bad girl."

Following their entries into the WNBA, fans often pitted the two against each other. In May 2024, Reese — who was drafted seventh to the Chicago Sky — reignited rumors of a feud after seemingly throwing jabs at Clark for her perceived status as the face of the WNBA. "And that's on getting a WIN in a packed area not just cause of one player on our charter flight," Reese wrote in a since-deleted post on X (via Sports Illustrated), referring to the league's decision to finally charter planes for its teams in 2024.

Reese also raised a few eyebrows after celebrating Chennedy Carter's foul against Clark during the Chicago Sky's game against Indiana Fever. However, she insisted she has no hard feelings towards Clark. "I don't think people realize it's not personal ... Me and Caitlin Clark don't hate each other," Reese declared to ESPN.

Following her draft into the WNBA, Caitlin Clark faced considerable pressure from fans. During a May 2024 appearance on "The Rich Eisen Show," veteran player Sue Bird commented on Clark's influence on the WNBA's rising popularity, adding that the rookie was burdened with a lot of responsibilities. "Sometimes it feels like the weight of the WNBA is on her shoulders. That is both ... a compliment and warranted in a lot of ways but, also maybe a little bit unfair to put so much on her," Bird explained.

Kate Martin, Clark's friend and former teammate at the University of Iowa, echoed similar sentiments while defending the Indiana Fever star against critics. "Caitlin's phenomenal, and she's having a great rookie season. I think people are really hard on her and expecting her to be perfect. That's unrealistic, right?" Martin shared in an interview (via The New York Post). Regardless, Martin said she hopes to continue supporting Clark as she navigates the murky waters of the WNBA.

Though not everyone experiences the demands of being the first overall pick of a draft season, other players in the WNBA can relate to the league's mounting pressure. "People don't understand what kind of burden she has on her shoulders at times," Seattle Storm player Nika Mühl noted in an interview with The Seattle Times. "Being perfect on and off the basketball court, saying the right things all the time, it's a lot."

Amid her rising popularity in the WNBA and the sports industry at large, Caitlin Clark has enjoyed the support of those dearest to her — her parents Brent Clark and Anne Nizzi-Clark. Despite the nerves that come with watching their daughter play, Brent and Anne love showing up to support Caitlin at all of her games. "She'll look to the stands every so often and I try to give her some reassurance. I do the best I can," Brent explained while speaking to KCRG-TV9.

Outside of their unwavering commitment to supporting Caitlin's career, Brent and Anne have struggled to navigate fame and the ensuing scrutiny toward their daughter. In a June 2024 interview with The Washington Post, Caitlin opened up about the pressures of being in the spotlight, revealing that her parents struggle with the criticism and negative attention she faces. "They see all this stuff, too. You have to remember, we're regular people with feelings. My parents have feelings. It can definitely be hard at times," Clark shared.

Brent has, however, offered his daughter a coping strategy — staying off the internet. "You gotta stay away from, sometimes, the social media. There's always going to be somebody who's gonna want to see you fall," he advised in his interview with KCRG-TV9.

When Caitlin Clark was selected as the first overall pick of the 2024 WNBA draft, she knew all eyes would be on her. Yet, she faced the challenge head-on. "I think when you want to be one of the best players in the world, that just kind of comes with it," she shared in a conversation with Today. However, as Clark would later realize, fame comes at a price.

In an episode of the ESPN+ documentary series "Full Court Press," she admitted to grappling with the demands of fame. Reflecting on the challenge, she admitted, "The hardest part about being Caitlin Clark?" the Indiana Fever star reflected. "Having to feel like you're always, like, on." In one scene in the documentary, viewers see fans repeatedly walking up to Clark in a restaurant while on a date with her boyfriend, Connor McCaffrey.

Clark had previously expressed her lifelong dream of being a basketball star to ESPN. "Maybe I didn't understand I would get such a big spotlight, but this is the level I wanted to play on," she said in November 2023 before the true craziness of her WNBA fame came into play.

Caitlin Clark's entry into the WNBA and her wide-spreading popularity sparked conversations about the league's perceived biases, favoring white, heterosexual women. With a large percentage of the league's players being Black and/or belonging to the LGBTQ+ community, a few WNBA stars have raised concerns over Clark's perceived privileges as a straight, white woman.

In her interview with AP, Las Vegas Aces player A'ja Wilson highlighted disparities in how Black and white WNBA players are treated and the opportunities made available to them. Seemingly commenting on Clark's rumored $28 million deal with Nike, Wilson suggested her popularity is a subset of white privilege. "It really is because you can be top-notch at what you are as a Black woman, but yet maybe that's something that people don't want to see," she lamented.

But one area where Clark has used to espouse racist rhetoric at the expense of players of color — often toward her supposed rival, Angel Reese — is on social media. In an interview with the press, Clark expressed disappointment over social media users weaponizing her name for racist comments against other players. "I think it's disappointing. I think everybody in our world deserves to have the same amount of respect. The women in our league deserve the same amount of respect," she said. "People should not be using my name to push those agendas. It's disappointing. It's not acceptable."

Playing in the WNBA was a dream come true for Caitlin Clark, but it didn't come with a fat paycheck, as many would expect. In April 2024, it was reported that Clark is predicted to make $76,535 in her first year as a rookie and an estimated $338,000 over her four-year contract. According to The Guardian, WNBA players receive a fraction of what male basketballers get, with Clark earning only 2% of the median NBA salary.

Clark's salary sparked a conversation about the pay disparities between men and women in sports. "Inequality at its finest," one user wrote on X. President Joe Biden also responded to news of Clark's pay, writing in a tweet: "It's time that we give our daughters the same opportunities as our sons and ensure women are paid what they deserve."

However, WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert has defended the league against criticisms, explaining at the 2024 Changemakers Summit that there is a "false narrative" surrounding Clark's salary. According to Engelbert, in addition to her base salary, Clark could make as high as $500,000 in wages and bonuses from the WNBA. "She also has millions and millions of dollars in endorsements, and actually because she's declared to become pro, her endorsements are higher in dollar value — she has a global platform now, not just a U.S. platform, so she's going to do just fine as well," Engelbert added.